


These Wings Were Made to Fly

by InvisiMeg



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/F, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-13
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 08:08:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 65,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9312938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvisiMeg/pseuds/InvisiMeg
Summary: As far as everyone is concerned, Kara Danvers is just a normal high school student.  But when Lena Luthor is kidnapped and Superman is nowhere to be found, Kara decides to risk her normal life to save the girl.  After things don’t quite go according to plan, though, and the rescue is caught on camera, Kara has to adjust to her new life as Supergirl.  And if that isn’t difficult enough, she’s also determined to figure out how to get Lena to notice her as Kara Danvers.





	1. Not What I Had Planned

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t even know how this happened. I guess I’m just a sucker for actresses with great chemistry.

Kara groaned at the loud ringing that was coming from beside her head.  Without thinking, she reached over and slammed her hand down on the clock, her eyes flying open when she heard the distinct sound of plastic breaking.  Groaning, she lifted her head and looked at the now broken clock.

“Alex is going to kill me,” Kara mumbled to herself and she buried her head in her pillow.

It was the third one she had broken that year and she knew her sister wasn’t going to be happy about buying yet another new one.  Kara was usually pretty good about not breaking things any more, but she was always more prone to accidents when she was still half asleep.  Which she’d learned the hard way after smashing her phone to pieces.  Which is why she had gone with an old fashioned alarm clock ever since.  At least they weren’t nearly as expensive.

“Kara! What are you still doing in bed?!”

Kara jolted at the loud sound and lifted her head up to find her sister standing over her.  “I can explain.”

“Yeah, we’ll talk about the clock later; right now, you’re late,” Alex replied.

“What?” Kara said, picking up her phone, and looking at the time.  “Oh, no!”

Kara hopped out of bed and sped into the shower.  She couldn’t believe she had fallen asleep.  She had only planned on putting her head down for a minute, but now she only had eighteen minutes to get ready and get to school or she was going to be late. Again.

She was in and out of the shower in under two minutes.  She quickly dried off and practically flew into her bedroom to get dressed before going to the kitchen to grab something to eat on the way.  As she went from the refrigerator to the cabinet, though, she heard her sister behind her say, “Slow down.”

Kara huffed in annoyance.  “I’m going to be late.”

“You know the rules,” Alex replied.

“What good is having superpowers if I can’t even use them in my own home to save myself from being in trouble with my first period teacher?” Kara asked.

“Kara—”

“No one else is here!” Kara interrupted.  “It’s just us!  What is it going to hurt?”

Alex shoulders rose and fell as she sighed, looking away.  It wasn’t the first time they’d had this conversation and they both knew it wouldn’t be the last.  Kara didn’t see any harm in using her powers when she was alone or with those who knew about them, but it had always been a big no-no in the Danvers house.  Kara knew her adoptive family was just trying to look out for her and protect her, but sometimes it just felt like she was being punished when she could do all these things but wasn’t allowed.

“You know I just want what’s best for you,” Alex said after a few moments.

“I know,” Kara replied.

Alex nodded and her eyebrows rose slightly.  “School!”

“Right,” Kara said, grabbing a few more things from the kitchen before running—at a normal speed—to grab her bag.

“I may be a bit late this evening,” Alex called out to her as she retrieved her books from her desk and tossed them into her bag.  “We’re working on a new project, so things are a little hectic right now.  You may have to get your own dinner.  I left some money on the counter in case you want to order out.  And I know you will.”

Kara laughed as she left her bedroom, putting her glasses on as she went.  They both knew Kara didn’t really cook and would most definitely be placing an order to the Chinese place down the street or one of the local pizza places.

“How late do you think you’ll be?” Kara asked.

Alex sighed.  “Late.  Like—late late.”

Kara nodded.  it wouldn’t be the first time her sister’s job kept her out late, and it seemed to be happening more and more frequently.  Kara didn’t exactly mind since she usually just crashed in front of the television, but she was beginning to wonder if Alex wasn’t telling her everything.  Every time she asked, though, Alex would just tell her it was a normal part of the job and things would get back to normal soon.  Except she’d been saying that for the past three or four months, and things didn’t seem to be getting back to the way they were.

“Any chance you’ll let me fly to school?” Kara asked when Alex picked up her keys from the counter top.

Alex looked over her shoulder, giving Kara the only answer she needed.

“I know, I know,” Kara said, averting her eyes as she shouldered her bag.  “I had to try.”

* * *

 

Kara breathed a sigh of relief when she walked into school and saw there were still other students in the hallways. That meant the final bell hadn’t rung and she wasn’t going to be late for class.  Though she was pretty sure Alex was breaking multiple laws to get her there on time.  It wasn’t really like her sister to do something like that, but they also didn’t want the school looking too closely at their lives if tardiness became an issue.

“There you are,” Winn said as he maneuvered his way over to her.  “I was beginning to think you weren’t going to make it.  I would have hated to see you get chastised in front of the class yet again.”

“I almost didn’t make it on time thanks to Alex,” Kara replied, thinking about how her sister wouldn’t let her use her powers even if it had only been the two of them.

“Was she running late?” Winn asked.

“She delayed me,” Kara said.

Winn nodded but then frowned slightly.  He didn’t say anything, however, which Kara was thankful for.  Winn was an inquisitive person, but he tended to let things slide when it came to her.  Maybe it was one too many evasive answers about odd occurrences, but Winn tended to just roll with things now, which Kara was thankful for.  It was hard enough being different, but at least she had a best friend who accepted her quirks even if he didn’t know what they were about.

“It was really my fault, though,” Kara added.  “My alarm clock must have broken somehow and I accidentally fell back asleep.  I didn’t wake up again until I already should have left.”

“Why don’t you just use your phone like the rest of the world?” Winn asked.

“Good question,” Kara replied as she pushed her glasses up.  “I guess I’m just old fashioned.”

“Speaking of old fashioned,” Winn said, turning around so he could look at her as he slowly walked backwards down the hallway.  “There’s this new ice cream place that’s straight out of the 1950’s.  It just opened last week and I thought maybe we could go check it out sometime this week.  What do you say?”

“What do I say?” Kara asked, her eyes lighting up.  “Of course!”

“I thought you’d say that,” Winn said with a smile.

“You know me and food,” Kara commented as she smiled back.

“I d—” Winn stumbled but managed not to completely fall down.  The person he had run into, however, hadn’t fared quite so well.  Kara heard whoever it was hit the floor, but Winn was blocking her view from seeing who the unlucky person was.

“I’m sorry,” Winn said, offering his hand.

“Yes, well—”

As soon as Kara heard the voice she instantly winced.  Winn withdrew his hand when it became clear she wasn’t going to accept it, and Kara could hear his heart pounding in his chest.  She wasn’t sure if it was from fear or humiliation, but she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder in the hopes that he would relax.

“Lena Luthor,” Winn said, closing his eyes, and shaking his head as the dark haired girl walked away.  “Of all the people, why did I have to knock over Lena Luthor!  Why is it always the most popular girl in school that I make a fool of myself in front of?”

“Was she okay?” Kara asked, looking after Lena.

“I don’t know,” Winn said, throwing his hands up.  “I hope so.  Her family will probably sue me or something if she isn’t.”

“I doubt that,” Kara replied.  “It was just an accident.  Plus, her family has, like, billions of dollars.  They don’t need to sue a high school student.”

“No, but I still just made a total fool of myself,” Winn said.

“Are you—do you like Lena?” Kara asked.

“What?” Winn asked.  “No!  Of course not.  I mean, she’s pretty, but she’s not really my type.  But that doesn’t mean I want to humiliate myself in front of the most popular girl in school.  She probably already went to all of her friends and told them what a dork I am.  They’re probably all laughing at me right now.”

“I doubt that,” Kara said, grabbing Winn’s arm, and pulling him down the hall.

Kara’s shoulders relaxed a little as she led Winn down the hallway.  It wasn’t that she wouldn’t understand if he did have a crush on Lena Luthor because she would understand better than anyone, but the idea still weirded her out.  Winn was her best friend and it would feel weird to have a crush on the same girl.  Not that Winn knew how she felt about Lena.  That was something she had kept to herself.  Even less people knew about her crush on Lena Luthor than knew Kara was an alien.

* * *

 

“Where did all these people come from?” Winn asked as he looked around the cafeteria.

“Come on,” Kara said.  “There’s two empty seats over there.”

“Over where?” Winn asked, craning his neck.

Instead of answering Winn, Kara began walking across the cafeteria.  She didn’t bother to look over her shoulder to see if he was following; she could hear Winn’s footsteps behind her and knew he was just behind her.

“Are we going over there?” Winn asked, stopping in the middle of the cafeteria.

“Yes,” Kara said, glancing over at him.  “What’s wrong with it?”

“They don’t want us sitting with them,” Winn said.

“They won’t mind,” Kara argued.  “James is nice.”

“And Lucy?” Winn asked.

“She’s nice too,” Kara replied.

Winn groaned and Kara grabbed him by the arm, pulling him toward the table.  She knew he didn’t dislike James and Lucy or she wouldn’t drag him over.  He just wasn’t always comfortable around certain people.

“Are these seats taken?” Kara asked with a bright smile.

“No, go ahead,” James said, motioning to the empty seats as he smiled back.  “How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Kara replied.  “Good.”

“What about you?” James asked when Winn didn’t answer.  “I heard you had a little accident this morning.”

“I told you she was going to laugh about it with everyone!” Winn hissed to Kara.

“Actually, Lucy saw it happen,” James said, motioning to his girlfriend, who was sitting beside of him.

“And, for the record, I wasn’t laughing about it,” Lucy replied.  “I just mentioned it to James.”

“I told you the whole school wouldn’t be talking about it,” Kara said, giving Winn a friendly smile.

Kara was glad to know Lena wasn’t the type to go around school talking about others.  Because if it had been a lot of the other popular girls, most of the school would be laughing about Winn by now.  From what Kara had observed, Lena had never seemed like the type who liked to gossip, and it seemed like Kara’s observations were correct.

She snuck a glance over where Lena was sitting and furrowed her brows slightly.  Lena often looked sad, which was a stark contrast to the people around her who were laughing and looked as if they didn’t have a care in the world.  Lena, on the other hand, usually looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders.  Kara couldn’t actually remember if she had ever seen Lena smile, and she always wondered if the other girl had always been so serious or if it was something that had started in the past few years.

“Hey,” Winn said, waving his hand in front of her face.

“What?” Kara asked, jumping slightly.  “Sorry I was—”

“Completely zoned out,” Winn finished for her.

“Yeah, sorry,” Kara said, trying to smile as if she hadn’t been staring at Lena.  “What were you saying?”

“I was asking what you’re doing tonight,” Winn replying.  “I thought maybe I could come over and hang out if you don’t have plans.”

“Actually, Alex sent me a text a little bit ago and told me she’s surprisingly not going to be late tonight like she thought,” Kara explained.  “She thought we could have a girl’s night in.  She’s been working so much lately and feels bad that we haven’t had much quality time together.

“You still liking living with your sister?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, Alex is great,” Kara replied.

“I think I’d go nuts if I had to live with mine,” Lucy commented.

“How’s your mom doing?” James asked.  “Do you talk to her much?”

“Eliza’s fine,” Kara answered.  “She’s still working on some top secret project.”

“Where’s she at, again?” Lucy asked.

“Somewhere in Europe,” Kara replied.  “I think.  It’s classified.”

“So you have no idea what she’s doing over there?” James asked.

Kara shrugged.  “All I know is she’s developing some product.  She’s probably trying to save the world like the rest of my family.”

Kara gave him a tight smile.  She was happy that her family was doing so much to help people, but she hated that she wasn’t doing the same.  She was sent to Earth to protect her cousin, but then there was the accident and he got there years before her.  When she arrived, Clark no longer needed her to take care of him.  He’d found a purpose and she no longer had one.  And as if that wasn’t enough, her adoptive family, two regular people, were doing more than she was.

She was proud of her family—all of her family—but it made her wish she could do more.  It made her wish she could be out there saving lives instead of hiding.  And she knew the people in her life were just trying to protect her, but at what point did she get to become the one who did the protecting?

* * *

 

“Can you slice these?” Alex asked, handing Kara some mushrooms.

Kara scrunched her nose up.  “Do we really have to put them in?”

“You won’t even taste them,” Alex replied.

“I bet I will,” Kara said.

“I bet you won’t,” Alex replied.

Kara quickly sliced up the mushrooms, receiving a suspicious look from Alex.  Kara just shrugged, though, and said, “I don’t understand why we need salad.  We’ve ordered pizza.”

“Because it’s good for you,” Alex replied.  “Because some of us don’t have a superhuman metabolism.  And because some of us gain weight when our sister wants to order pizza every other day.”

“So I guess that means you can eat the salad and I can eat the pizza!” Kara said.

Alex smiled.  “Fine, but you better save some of that pizza for me.”

Kara tilted her head slightly when she heard footsteps making their way down the hallway.  Before the doorbell had even rung, Kara had swung the door open, money in hand.  She took the two boxes of pizza from the man with a friendly smile and handed him the money.  After thanking her when she told him to keep the change, Kara closed the door and bounded over to the couch.

“At least grab some napkins!” Alex called over to her.

Kara gave her a smile and Alex rolled her eyes, picking up a stack of napkins herself.  As Kara began flipping through the channels, Alex brought of the two salads and set one in front of her sister with a pointed look.  Sighing, Kara set down the slice of pizza that was already halfway to her mouth and picked up the salad.

“You may be Kryptonian, but one day your terrible heating habits could catch up to you,” Alex remarked.

“What do you want to watch,” Kara asked before humoring Alex by taking a bite of the salad.

Alex hummed.  “How about Castle?”

“Not again,” Kara whined.

“And what would you choose?” Alex asked.

“How about 3rd Rock from the Sun?” Kara suggested.

“We watch that all the time,” Alex replied.

“Not as much as Castle,” Kara stated.  “Fine.  How about Friends? We both like that.”

“Fine,” Alex said, grabbing her phone from the coffee table when it began vibrating.  “Actually, hold that thought.” Alex sighed.  “Crap.”

“You have to go?” Kara asked, already knowing the answer.

“There’s an emergency at work,” Alex said, standing up, and running her hand through her hair.  “I have to go.  Hopefully I’ll be able to come home tonight, but if not—”

“Then I’ll be fine,” Kara replied.  “It’s fine.  Go.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex said.

“Your work is important,” Kara replied with a shrug.

“I’ll make it up to you,” Alex said, giving Kara a hug.  “I promise.  My next night off, we’ll binge watch whatever you want.”

“Here.” Kara grabbed a slice of pizza and wrapped it up in a napkin.  “You should at least eat, and I don’t think your salad is going to travel so well.”

“Thanks,” Alex said.  “I promise I’ll make this up to you.”

Kara walked her sister over to the door, where Alex grabbed her jacket.  With another hug, Alex grabbed her keys and was out the door, leaving Kara with the apartment all to herself.

As she walked back to the couch and flopped down, she had every intention of starting Netflix, but she soon found herself flipping through the channels once more.  She was going through them a third time when ‘breaking news’ flashed across the screen, and she quickly went back to see what was going on.

“We are receiving reports that Lena Luthor, heiress to the Luthor fortune and sister of criminal Lex Luthor, has been taken from Luthor Corp by armed men—”

Everything the new anchor said after that was like static in her ears.  She’d heard all she needed to, though.  Lena was in serious danger, and Kara grabbed her phone to text Clark to see if he was doing anything about it.  But after several messages and calls went unanswered, the fear really began to set in.  What if Clark wasn’t around? What if he was off in his fortress and by the time he came back it was too late?

Kara paced back and forth, glancing at her phone every few moments even though she knew Clark hadn’t answered her.  She even tried calling his girlfriend, Lois, but she wasn’t answering, either.  Finally, after about twenty minutes—though it felt much longer—Kara squared her shoulders and mumbled, “Alex is going to kill me.”

* * *

 

Kara closed her eyes for a moment, allowing herself to enjoy the feeling of soaring high above the city.  She hadn’t flown in nearly five years, and she had forgotten what it felt like.  That weightlessness and freedom she felt as she zoomed through the air.

She didn’t focus on the feeling long.  Instead, she concentrated all her sense on finding Lena.  She flew around the city and listened for any sound that would tell her where Lena could be.  A few times she heard a voice she thought could be hers, but when she used her x-ray vision to look through the walls only to find that it was someone else.

With a sigh, Kara would take off again, circling the city as she wondered if Lena was even still there.  If the kidnappers had taken her out of the city, she knew she may never find Lena.  She could only hope the kidnappers would release her if they got what they wanted if that was the case.  Because she may have x-ray vision and super hearing, but the world was a huge place, and she wouldn’t have much better luck at finding her than anyone else if Lena had been taken out of National City.

As she was passing by the docks for the third time, though, Kara heard something that made her freeze.  A threat coming from a man with a deep voice.  A threat that said to stop moving if the person wanted to live and made Kara’s heart pound in her chest.

Kara flew up until she was just above the building and looked down.  As she looked through the walls, she saw there were about a dozen people inside.  Most of them were men with large guns, but one was a smaller figure that was tied to a chair.  A figure she instantly recognized as the one she had been searching for.

Kara flew down, landing on the roof without so much as a sound.  She crept along the roof to the large skylight that was positioned just above Lena.  There was only one other person in the room with her, a man with a very large, very sophisticated looking gun.  While Kara knew she could easily take him out before he even knew what hit him, she knew it would be better if she remained unseen entirely.  If even one person saw her, she knew her secret would be out there for all the world to know.

She had done her best to obscure her identity before leaving the apartment.  She’d grabbed one of Alex’s black jackets from her closet, removed the glasses she always wore, and took her hair out of its usual ponytail.  She knew it was inevitable that Lena would see her, but at least she didn’t think the other girl would recognize her.  And she hoped she wouldn’t tell the whole world that she was saved by an alien.

As Kara tried to figure out the best course of action to get the guard out of the room, he began walking away, leaving no one in the room but Lena.  Kara took it as her cue to make a move and quickly opened the skylight, jumping down to the floor just behind Lena with a soft thud.

“Don’t be alarmed,” Kara whispered as she walked forward and easily undid Lena’s restraints with her heat vision.  “I’m here to get you out of here.”

Lena looked over her shoulders at Kara with a stunned look on her face.  After a few moments, though, she seemed to regain her senses and said, “He’ll be back any moment.  He only leaves for about a minute at a time.”

“In that case, let’s get you out of here quickly, Miss. Luthor,” Kara said, stepping toward Lena, and easily picking her up.  “I hope you don’t mind.”

Lena shook her head.  “Just get me out of here.”

Kara smiled.  “I can do that.”

Kara flew up and heard a gasp leave Lena’s lips.  She couldn’t help smiling at the reaction as well as the look of wonder on her face as Kara flew her away from the docks.

“I’m going to take you home, Miss Luthor,” Kara said over the sound of the wind.

Kara was careful not to fly too fast since she figured Lena had already had enough excitement for one evening.  She still touched down at the Luthor penthouse in under five minutes, though, gently setting Lena down and keeping a hand on her waist until Lena seemed to steady herself.

“You’re safe now, Miss Luthor,” Kara said.  “I’ll inform the police of your kidnappers’ whereabouts.”

“Wait,” Lena said, putting her hand on Kara’s arm as she turned away.  “Who are you?”

“Just a concerned citizen,” Kara answered.  “And I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone about what happened.”

Lena nodded.  “Your secret is safe with me.”

Kara smiled at Lena.  “Goodnight, Miss Luthor.”


	2. Caught

Kara awoke the next morning with a start.  At first she wasn’t sure what had woke her, but then she turned over and saw a very angry looking Alex staring down at her.  Before she could ask what was wrong, Alex wordless threw three different newspapers onto her bed and then thrust her phone at Kara.

“It’s all over the news,” Alex said as she began pacing back and forth.  “What were you thinking, Kara?”

Kara picked up the closest newspaper and a frown made its way across her face.

“That’s—”

“You,” Alex interrupted.  “That’s you on the cover of half the newspapers across the country.  You’re all over the internet, Kara!”

It was a fuzzy picture of her carrying Lena across the city.  Thankfully, you couldn’t really see Kara’s face, but the cat was still out of the bag.  Above the picture was a headline asking if National City had their very own Superman and boasted having several eye witness accounts, though Kara couldn’t really imagine how.  It had been nighttime out and she had been flying high across the city.

“Someone recorded you with their cell phone when you neared the Luthors’ penthouse,” Alex said, answering the question Kara had been thinking.  “Someone saw you and decided to record it and put it on YouTube.  It’s out there now and you can never take it back.”

“Maybe it’s not so bad,” Kara replied, hoping to calm her sister down.

“Not so bad?” Alex repeated.  “Kara, people know you’re out there now.  The one rule was you don’t let people see your powers, but now it’s out there for the whole world to see!  Now that they know you’re out there, there are people who will come looking for you and they won’t stop until they know who you are and have you.  Maybe they don’t know who you are, but they will eventually figure it out.”

“Alex—”

“My mom trusted me to protect you,” Alex interrupted.  “She trusted that you would be safe in my care, and now look what’s happened.” Alex threw her arms up.  “Not only did you go flying around the city, but you were filmed!”

“I know you think I need protecting, but I’m eighteen, Alex,” Kara said, throwing her covers back, and standing up.  “I’m an adult now.  I don’t need you or Eliza protecting me.  It’s going to be okay!”

“Why did you even go out there?” Alex asked.

“Because I saw the news and I knew that Lena was in trouble,” Kara answered.  “I tried getting a hold of Clark, but he wasn’t answered.  I just kept imagining how I would feel if I was in her shoes.  How I would feel if there was someone out there who could save me but wouldn’t do it.  I kept thinking how I would feel if they had killed her and I hadn’t tried to help her.  How could I live with myself if that had happened?

“I know you think you’re protecting me, but I’m tired of hiding from the world!  I want people to see me.  I want to be able to help people like Clark does.  Ever since I came here, I’ve had no purpose, but this could be it.  This could be what I’m meant to do.”

“I’m sorry, Kara, but that’s not an option,” Alex stated.  “I know you want to think the best in people, but there are a lot of people out there who would love to destroy someone like you.  Or worse.  And I know you want to help people, but you can’t.  Right now, you need to lie low.  This isn’t just going to blow over, but at least you won’t be exposing yourself even more than you already have.”  Alex paused for a moment.  “You’re grounded.  In every sense of the word.”

Kara opened her mouth to protest, but closed it with a scowl.  When Alex turned on her heel to walk away, though, Kara finally said, “It’s not like I meant for this to happen.”

“I know you didn’t,” Alex replied.  “But it still happened.  Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a lot of work to do.  And a phone call to return to our mom.”

Kara sighed as she sat back down on her bed.  She hated that Alex was angry with her, but even if she could go back and change things, she still wouldn’t sit back and do nothing.  Someone had been in trouble and she had reacted.  She wasn’t sorry about it even if things had blown up in her face a bit.  She just wished her sister could see that she was only trying to help and that it wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed. After all, there was no way any one was going to be able to recognize her from such a blurry photograph.

* * *

 

Kara groaned and lifted her head to look at the front door.  Someone was knocking way too enthusiastically and she didn’t have to use her x-ray vision to know that Winn was on the other side of the door.

“Kara, you in there!” Winn asked, knocking again.

“Yeah, just a minute,” Kara said, pulling herself off the couch, and walking over to let her friend in.

“Oh my god!” Winn said the moment the door was open, walking past Kara, and then turning around with one of the papers Alex had thrown on her bed.  “Have you seen this?  Tell me you’ve seen this!”

Kara sighed.  “I’ve seen it.”

“We have our own Superhero!” Winn said, looking like he’d just won the lottery.  “Can you believe it?  I’ve watched the video, like twenty times, and it’s definitely someone flying across the city.  Some people think it’s a hoax, but there’s no way.  And others think maybe it’s Superman, but I agree with the people who are speculating that it’s a woman.  I mean, look at this picture.  There’s no way that’s a man.  She’s too small.”

“I—”

“There’s already a lot of talk about whether or not this person is related to Superman,” Winn continued.  “He’s too young to have a grown kid, but maybe they’re brother and sister.  Wouldn’t that be cool?” Winn stopped for a moment and his face fell a little as he looked at Kara.  “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Kara said, trying to plaster a smile on her face, though she knew it was strained.  “I’ve just had a long morning.”

“What happened?” Winn asked.

Kara sighed.  “Alex is angry with me.  And I imagine Eliza is too.  I haven’t had the chance to get a lecture from her yet, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.”

“I can’t imagine you did anything too bad,” Winn said.

“I broke one of their rules,” Kara replied.  “Really, their only rule.”

“How bad can it be?” Winn asked.  “You’d never intentionally do anything bad.”

“Actually, I did something good, but Alex can’t seem to see that right now,” Kara replied.  “She just wants me to hide who I am, and now that people have seen me, she’s worried.”

Winn frowned.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m trying to say—”

Kara sighed to herself and grabbed the newspaper from Winn’s hand.  She stared at the picture for a few moments before holding it up.  “They’re not siblings.”

“What?” Winn asked, furrowing his brows.

“Superman and the girl in the picture,” Kara said.  “They’re not brother and sister.  They’re cousins.”

“Cousins?” Winn asked, looking down at the paper, and then looking back up at Kara.  “How would you know that?”

“Because the girl in that picture—it’s me,” Kara said.  “I’m the one flying above National City.  I’m the one who saved Lena Luthor last night, and now Alex will barely talk to be because of it.”

Winn tilted his head for a moment and then a smile slowly spread across his face.  “This is a joke, right?  You’re joking with me right now.  It’s very funny, by the way.”

“This isn’t a joke,” Kara replied, but she could still tell Winn thought it was.

“Okay,” Winn said, shaking his head, the smile still firmly on his face.  “If you say so.”

Kara began to push her glasses up but paused.  After a moment, she took them off completely and then pulled her hair out of its ponytail.

“Look any more like the picture?” Kara asked.

“Kara,” Winn said in that tone that told her he thought she was crazy before he turned around and began walking toward the couch, not paying attention to what Kara was doing behind him.  “Look, I get it, okay?  You know Superman has been my role model for years.  I mean, how awesome would it be to be able to fly or lift a car or be able to see through buildings?  Can you think of anything more cool?” Winn turned around and his jaw dropped.  “Oh my god!  Kara’s, you’re—you’re floating.  You’re—” Winn looked up into her eyes.  “You were telling the truth.”

“Did you really think I was lying?” Kara asked.  “It would be an easy thing to disprove, after all.  Besides, you’re my best friend.  Why would I ever lie to you like that?  I guess I’ve technically lied to you all these years, but I hated doing it and it was more of a lie of omission than something crazy like telling you I’m Superman’s cousin when I’m really not.”

Winn did a great impression of a fish, opening and closing his mouth.  “I-I” Winn shook his head.  “Wow. Okay. So you’re, like, Supergirl.”

“I think I prefer Superwoman, actually,” Kara said, putting her hands on her hips, and slowly smiling.  “Alex is so going to kill me now.”

* * *

 

“Kara! Hey, wait up!” Winn said bumping into several people as he hurriedly made his way over to her.

Kara stopped and turned toward her friend.  They hadn’t seen each other since Saturday, but he still looked no less excited than he did then.  She wondered how long it would be before the novelty was going to wear off, but knowing Winn, it probably never would.  He still got excited every time a new picture of Superman came out, which she’d always found amusing.  Now that it was her, though, she hoped he wouldn’t be like that.  She really just wanted him to be her best friend, not someone who looked up to her as a hero.

“You didn’t text me last night,” Winn said when he finally caught up to her.  “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t really feel like talking to anyone,” Kara replied.

“Is Alex still angry with you?” Winn asked.

Kara nodded.  “She’s barely speaking to me.  Every time she looks at me, all I can see is the disappointment in her eyes.  I know she feels like she failed with me somehow, and I wish I could make her see that she didn’t.  This was always going to happen sooner or later.  They couldn’t protect me from the world forever.”

“Does she know I know?” Winn asked.

“No,” Kara said, shaking her head.  “It would only make her angrier, so I thought I would wait a while before I told her.”

“She’s gotta know I’d never tell anyone, though,” Winn replied.  “Right?  I mean, you know that, don’t you?”

Kara glanced around, and while no one appeared to be paying any attention to them, she nodded toward one of the empty classrooms.  “Let’s go in here.  And yes, I know you’d never tell.  I wouldn’t have told you if I thought you would.  You’ve been my best friend since we started high school.  I trust you.”

“So, I have a question,” Winn said.  “Your sister told you you’re grounded and you’re not allowed to use your,” he lowered his voice, “powers again.  What would it really matter if you did?  She’s already not really talking to you, right?  What’s the worst that could happen if you go out there again?  I think you should just do what you want.”

Kara shook her head.  “I can’t.”

“But why not?” Winn asked.

Kara opened her mouth, hesitating for a moment.  “I just can’t.”

“Tell me you’re going to be able to not go out there the next time someone needs your help,” Winn said.  “Tell me you’re going to be able to sit back and watch when you could be doing something about it.  I know you, Kara; you have the biggest heart out of anyone I’ve ever met.  You won’t be able to just sit back and watch.  Maybe you could before, but not now.  Not when everyone already knows you exist and think they’ll be able to count on you to save them.  Besides, how awesome would it be if you were National City’s very own superhero?”

“Alex thinks people will come after me if I put myself out there,” Kara replied.  “And she’s probably right.  I’ll become a target for people.  And if anyone ever figures out who _I_ am, then the people I care about most will become targets as well.  The last thing I want is for those I love to be in danger.”

“I know that, but tell me you’re going to be able to sit back and do nothing,” Winn said.  “Tell me that and I’ll never bring this up again.”

Kara sighed and looked away.  It had always bothered her that she couldn’t go out there and help people before, but Winn was right.  Now that people knew about her, it was that much harder.  She couldn’t stand the thought of people knowing she was out there but was unwilling to help those who needed it.  But she also hated the thought of disappointing her family.

And she knew Alex was right; she could see the point she was making.  Kara would be a target just like Superman was.  There were plenty of bad people who would love to see someone like her or Clark fail.  For years, there had been people out there who did everything they could to hurt Clark, regardless of the innocent people who would be killed in the process.  But did all that really mean it was better to do nothing?

“I’m going to need some time to think about all this,” Kara said.  “But right now I need to go look over my notes for a quiz I’m about to have.”

Winn nodded.  “You know where to find me if you want to talk about it.”

* * *

 

“Who are you looking for?” James asked.

Kara stopped looking around the cafeteria and glanced over at James.  “Winn.  It’s weird that he’s not here.  He said he’d see me at lunch.”

“Maybe he had to stay behind for class,” James suggested.

“Maybe,” Kara replied.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked.  “You’ve seemed really distracted today.  It was like you didn’t even hear her when Mrs. Jacobson called on you in class.”

“Who me?” Kara asked.  “Yeah.  I’m totally fine.”

James’s eyebrow rose.  “You sure?”

“Yeah, of course,” Kara answered.

“Alright,” James said, but she could tell by his face that he didn’t believe her.  “But if there is anything wrong, you know you can talk to either of us, right?”

Kara smiled and nodded.  “Thanks, but it’s really unnecessary right now.”

“Winn’s coming,” Lucy said, looking over Kara’s shoulder, and nodding.

“There you are,” Kara said when he sat down beside her.  “I was wondering where you were.”

“Sorry, I had something to do,” Winn replied, sounding slightly out of breath.  “Did you guys hear?  Someone’s taken an entire bank hostage just a few blocks down the road.  I overheard them talking about it in the office.  They’ve talking about locking down the school in case the criminals get away and come this way.”

“What is with this city lately?” Lucy asked.  “These things seem to keep happening.”

“Yeah, I still can’t believe Lena was kidnapped,” James commented.  “That’s, like, major.  You know Luthor Corp has got to be one of the most secure places in the city, but somehow someone still managed to get in there.”

“It’s scary when you think about it,” Lucy replied.

“I wonder if Supergirl will go save the day,” Winn said.

“Supergirl?” Kara asked.

“That’s what the papers have started calling her,” Winn replied.  “The superhero that saved Lena.  CatCo put out an article about it last night, and now everyone’s starting to call her Supergirl.  Twitter’s blowing up with people wondering if she’ll show up.  A lot of people are hoping to see her again.”

Kara knew he was talking to her and her alone.  He couldn’t exactly ask her outright with James and Lucy right there, but she still heard what he was asking her.

“I’m sure the police have it all under control,” Kara said.  “They don’t need this Supergirl.”

“I don’t know,” Winn replied.  “They’re threatening to kill the hostages if the police don’t give them what they want.  And what if the police can’t give it to them?” Winn lowered his voice until it was less than a whisper.  If Kara didn’t have enhanced hearing then she knew she wouldn’t have been able to hear him at all.  “There’s something in my locker if you want to use it.”

As Winn, James, and Lucy carried on their conversation, Kara sat there thinking about what Winn had whispered.  She knew he was hoping she would go to the bank to help, but she didn’t know what could possibly be in his locker for her to use.

While she thought it over, her eyes slowly drifted over to Lena.  Kara had been surprised to find the other girl at school on Monday.  Given everything that had happened, she’d really expected her to take a few days off from school.  Yet Lena had been there as if nothing had happened.  Like she hadn’t been kidnapped and held at gunpoint before finally being saved by an alien.

As far as Kara knew, Lena had kept her word.  Even though Kara had been caught on camera and was now out there for the world to see, Lena hadn’t given any interviews about her rescue.  And Kara knew Lena hadn’t talked to her friends about it since she’d overheard them begging for details.  Lena had declined to comment, though, telling her friends that she really didn’t feel like talking about it.  It hadn’t stopped them from continuing to ask, but Lena still remained silent on the subject.

“Kara?” Lucy said.

Kara looked over at her.  “Sorry, but I just remembered that I needed to meet someone about some homework.  Silly me.  I can be so forgetful sometimes.  I’ll see you all later.”

She noticed a smirk on Winn’s face as she grabbed her tray and walked away.  She knew he was going to want to talk about everything later, but right now, she was trying to focus on what she needed to do.  So, after depositing her tray, she headed straight for Winn’s locker and used her x-ray vision to figure out the combination.

When Kara opened the locker, she didn’t have to guess what Winn had left for her.  With a glance over her shoulder to make sure she was alone, she picked up the note and unfolded it as she ran her hand along the red and blue fabric.

_I thought you may want to match your cousin._  
_\- W_

* * *

 

Kara silently landed on the roof of the bank and looked around.  There was a helicopter flying above, but she could see that they were filming the front of the building.  Before they could point the camera in her direction, she flew down and through the front door, nothing more than a blur.

When she landed, it took a few moments for anyone to notice her.  The first one to finally see her was one of the hostages, who slowly looked up at her.  The surprise was evident on their face, mingled with a bit of relief.  A few seconds later, though, the fear returned when one of the gunmen noticed Kara and began shouting.

“Hey! Who are you?!” the man asked in a loud voice, raising his gun at her.

“Just someone who would like to help,” Kara said, raising her hands slightly.

By now, she had everyone’s attention and she suddenly felt a little self-conscious.  She had never dealt with a hostage situation before, and she really didn’t know what she should say.  The last thing she wanted was to anger the men.  Not because they could hurt her, but because she was afraid they would hurt someone else.

“You don’t have to do this,” Kara continued.  “You haven’t hurt anyone.  You can walk out of here and do your time, and be out in no time.  But if you hurt anyone, it’s going to be a lot worse.  Just let all these people go and everything will be okay.”

“Shoot her,” one of the other men ordered.  “She’s just a little girl playing dress up in a bad costume.”

Kara frowned and put her hands on her hips.  Maybe it wasn’t as cool as the one Superman had, but she thought Winn had done a good job on it.

“I can assure you shooting will do nothing to me,” Kara stated.

“We’ll see about that,” the man who was clearly in charge said as he raised his gun.

Several people screamed as the bullets began to fly.  Kara even flinched, having never actually experienced being shot before, but she barely felt it when the bullets hit her chest and stomach.  Her outfit, however, didn’t fare quite as well.  When she looked down, there were about a half a dozen holes littering her costume.

“Not to self,” Kara mumbled.  “Find a different material.”

When Kara looked back up, the man who had shot her was coming at her with the butt of the gun.  He tried hitting her in the side of the head with it, but Kara easily dodged it.

“If shooting me didn’t work, do you really think hitting me will?” Kara asked.

He tried several more times, but Kara just maneuvered around him so the gun never even came in contact with her.  The guy seemed to be getting increasingly more frustrated, so Kara grabbed the gun out of his hands in case he did something even more reckless.  Once it was in hand, she flew between the five remaining men, grabbing each of their guns before any of them had even realized what was happening.  With all the men unarmed and looking around confused, Kara flew out, dropping the guns near the police, and flying back in before most had time to blink.

“These people are walking out of here,” Kara stated when she landed back in the bank.

Most of the men backed down, but the leader still looked defiant.  She could hear his heart beating irregularly and she glanced down when she saw his arm begin to reach behind his back.  It was as if she watching it in slow motion as he pulled the gun out from his waistband and started to point it at one of the hostages.  Before he could grab the woman, though, Kara had used her super speed to put herself between him and the woman, and she threw him back, where he hit the ground several yards away with a loud thud.

“Is anyone else going to try to hurt these people?” Kara asked, and the other men all shook their heads.  “Good.”

Kara could hear that the police were beginning to rush into the building, so she flew out the door before the first one could step foot inside the bank.  She knew the hostages were now safe and she wanted to get out before even more people saw her up close.

As she flew away from the building, she smiled to herself.  Helping Lena had felt good, but helping an entire room full of people felt even more amazing.  This was all she had ever wanted and she was finally getting it.  She was finally helping people.

“Ouch,” Kara said, coming to an abrupt stop midair when she felt a sudden sting in her arm.

Kara looked down at her arm, where a small syringe looking thing was sticking out of her arm.  She pulled it out, but it was too late.  She felt herself falling from the sky as everything began to go black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for the comments on the last chapter. I was a little nervous about posting this story, so they were nice to read.


	3. Thank You

Kara awoke with a start and opened her eyes to find herself staring up at an unfamiliar ceiling.  It took her a moment to remember what had happened, but then it all came rushing back to her.  She tried to sit up only to find herself strapped down to the table she was lying on.  And just as she thought about how silly it was to strap down someone who could break through anything, she tried lifting her arm again to only realize the metal cuffs were not breaking.

“What?” Kara said in confusion as she struggled against the restraints.

“It’s okay.  We’re not going to hurt you.”

“Alex?!” Kara said, craning her neck to look at her sister.  “What are you doing here?  Where am I?”

Alex silently walked over to Kara and began undoing her restraints.  Once the final one was off, Kara sat up and began absentmindedly rubbing her wrists even though it didn’t exactly hurt.

“This is where I work,” Alex eventually said with a sigh.

“But—” Kara shook her head and frowned.

“Come on,” Alex said.

Kara frowned but stood up and followed her sister out of the room.  As they walked down the hallways, Kara looked around, sometimes using her x-ray vision, but most of the rooms seemed to be lined with lead and she was unable to see into them.

“It’s for everyone’s protection,” Alex said as if she read Kara’s mind.

“Protection from what?” Kara asked.

“There’s a lot you don’t know, Kara,” Alex said.

“Wait,” Kara said, stopping when she walked past a sign.  “The Department of Extra-Normal Operations?  This is where you work?”

Alex turned around to look at her.  “We usually just call it the DEO.  And, yes, this is where I work.”

“But—you lied to me?” Kara said, her voice lowering.

“My work is confidential,” Alex replied.  “I wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

“Were you the one who shot me?” Kara asked.

“No,” Alex replied.  “That was someone else.  Someone else we’re still looking for but have so far been unable to locate.  We just happened to be the ones to intercept you before they were able to.  You’re lucky.  Who knows who would have you right now if we hadn’t gotten to you first.  Who knows what they would be _doing_ to you right now.” She sighed.  “I told you before that a lot of people would kill to get their hands on you, and today it could have happened.”

Alex turned on her heel and started walking down the hall again.  Kara watched her for a moment with a frown on her face before she began following her.

“What was that back there?” Kara asked.  “The restraints.  How were you able to keep me from breaking them?”

“The lights in the room,” Alex answered.  “They suppress your powers.  It’s only temporary.  We were afraid that tranquilizer dart may have done more than just knocked you out.  We did it for our safety as well as yours.  Thankfully, all the tests we ran on your came back normal, so we assume they just wanted you unconscious until they got you wherever they were going to take you.”

“So, is this it?” Kara asked.  “Are you going to lecture me about going out there again?  Are you not going to talk to me at all now?”

“I’d really rather not talk about it here,” Alex replied.  “Although, I will say that you know my feelings on the matter, but you’re obviously going to do what you want to, and there really isn’t anything I can do about it if that’s the case.  It’s not like I can physically stop you from putting yourself out there.  But you can bet I’m still angry.  You shouldn’t have been at the bank, and we _will_ be talking about it later.”

“Does that mean I can go home?” Kara asked.

Alex shrugged.  “That’s not really my call.  The director wants to talk to you and then he will be the one to decide whether you’re allowed to leave or not.”

“Does he think he can stop me?” Kara asked.

Alex gave her a tight smile.  “You wouldn’t be the first alien he’s taken down.  This place is full of them.”

Kara opened her mouth for a moment before closing it.

“Come on,” Alex said.  “The director gave me direct orders to bring you as soon as you woke, and he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” Alex paused for a moment and looked at her sister.  “He just wants to know that you’re not a threat.  I’ve already vouched for you that you’re not going to hurt anyone.  You really don’t have anything to worry about, okay?”

Kara nodded.  “Thank you.”

* * *

 

Kara couldn’t help fidgeting as she sat in the large room.  There was nothing in it except two metal chairs, a table, and some cameras that were monitoring her.  She also had the feeling that she wasn’t only being watched by them but that there were people just on the other side of the wall.  If there was a see-through panel somewhere in the room, though, they were using technology to block her from being able to see it using her x-ray vision.

Kara jumped slightly when the door suddenly opened and a man entered.  She was used to being able to hear people coming from far away, but it seemed as if the room was also limiting her hearing.

“Miss Danvers,” he said as he stared down at a file.  “Or would you prefer Miss Zor-El.”

“Alex told you my name,” Kara said, feeling a slight sting behind her eyes at the thought.

“No,” he replied.  “We were able to ascertain that information in other ways.  It’s what we do, after all.  Keep track of aliens and gather all the information we can about them.  That includes you, Miss—”

“Danvers,” Kara finished.

“Miss Danvers,” he said.  “I’m Director Hank Henshaw here at the DEO.  We’ve been tracking you for some time.  Even before you decided to make your presence known to the world.”

“When can I go home?” Kara asked.

“After I’ve asked you a few questions,” Hank replied, tossing the file down on the table as he took a seat across from Kara.  “Like what happened the night you rescued Miss Luthor from her captors.”

“What do you want to know?” Kara asked.

“Everything you know,” Hank said, crossing his arms over his chest.  “Everything you observed.  I want to know every detail you can think of.”

Kara frowned and looked away as she tried to think of that night.  It was all a bit of a blur; she had been so nervous and excited and worried that she hadn’t really taken in a lot of what was going on around her.

“I don’t know if I can be very helpful,” Kara said.

“Just start at the beginning,” Hank replied.

Kara nodded.  “I was flipping through the channels when I saw the breaking news.  Alex and I were supposed to be having a night in, but she got a call and—” Kara paused.  “She got a call from you guys about Lena, didn’t she?  That’s why she had to leave so suddenly.”

A slight smile appeared on Hank’s face.  “Yes.  Now continue.”

“I saw that she had been kidnapped, so I tried to contact—” Kara paused again.  She didn’t know if the DEO knew she and Superman were cousins, and it really wasn’t something she wished to divulge if they didn’t already know.  If her sister worked for them, she knew they probably weren’t bad, but that still didn’t mean she wanted them to know everything about her.

“I assume you tried to contact Superman,” Hank said when she didn’t continue.  “He is your cousin, after all.”

“You really do know everything about me, don’t you?” Kara replied.

“Not everything, but a lot,” Hand said.

“Yes, I tried to get in touch with him, but he never answered,” Kara continued.  “That’s when I made the decision to go myself.  I know Lena from school.  We’re not friends.  I don’t think I’ve ever even talked to her, but I couldn’t stand the thought of something bad happening to her when I know I could do something about it.

“I flew around the city and listened and looked for anything that may tell me where she was.  It took me a while.  I was on the third lap around, passing by the docks when I heard a man threatening someone.  I stopped and looked and saw that it was Lena.  She was tied to a chair and being watched by a man with a big gun.  There were others in the warehouse, but he was the only one in the room with her.”

“How many others?” Hank asked.

“I didn’t count, but around a dozen,” Kara answered.

“And these weapons they had,” Hank said.  “These big guns—can you describe them?”

“I didn’t see them up close, but I do know they looked like nothing I’ve seen on Earth before,” Kara answered.  “It wasn’t something they bought at the store.”

Hank nodded.  “So, how did you get Miss Luthor out?”

“It wasn’t hard,” Kara replied.  “The guy left the room, so I opened the skylight, flew down, untied her, and flew her home.  I was in and out without anyone noticing.”

“So I take it you didn’t see any of their faces?” Hank said, and Kara shook her head.  “Very well.  You’re free to go, Miss Danvers.”

“That’s it?” Kara asked.

“Would you like me to keep you longer?” Hank asked back.  “Agents Danvers is waiting outside for you.  She will take you home.”

Kara nodded and stood.  As she walked toward the door, though, Hank said, “Oh, and Miss Danvers?  Try to keep yourself off YouTube next time, okay?”

* * *

 

Kara breathed a sigh of relief when she walked into her apartment.  Waking up at the DEO had been scarier than she cared to admit.  Her first thought had been that she would never see her friends or family again.  Thankfully, it didn’t take long for Alex to make her presence known and the thoughts had flown from Kara’s head, but she still felt relief when she walked into the apartment.

“Don’t sound too happy to be home,” Alex said from behind her.  “Now you and I are going to have a discussion.”

“What are the chances it can wait until morning?” Kara asked.

“Slim to none,” Alex answered.

“Look, I know you don’t want me to do any of this, but it’s what I want,” Kara said, throwing her arms out.  “I can help people!  I can save their lives.  There’s nothing bad about that, and I wish you could just be happy for me.”

“I wish I could, too, but not when you’re putting yourself in danger,” Alex replied.  “I know there’s nothing I can do to stop you, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be angry about it.  I just want you to be safe, Kara.  Did you even think about what you were doing before you flew out of here to save a Luthor?”

“Of course I thought about it,” Kara said.  “I’ve been thinking about it for years.  I knew what I was doing.”

It was partly true.  She had thought about it for years, but she barely thought about what she was doing before she flew off to look for Lena.  All she could think about was how Lena was in danger.  How Lena could be killed if she didn’t do something.  It never really crossed her mind not to go once she realized she wasn’t going to be able to get in touch with Clark.

“I just hate that you’ve put yourself right in the middle of danger,” Alex said, shaking her head.  “I want you to be safe.  I want you to have a normal life.”

“Having a normal life was never going to be possible for me,” Kara replied.  “You know that, Alex.”

“Maybe not, but it didn’t have to be _this_ hard,” Alex said.  “And I can guarantee you it is going to only get worse.  I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Of course I do,” Kara replied in a firm voice, though she didn’t feel nearly as certain as she sounded.  “Now, can we talk about how you’ve been an agent in the Department of Extra-Normal Operations for what I’m assuming is years and you never told me?  I thought you worked in a lab somewhere.”

“Which is what you needed to think,” Alex said.  “My job is top secret.  I couldn’t tell you about it.  It could have put our whole operation in jeopardy.  The public cannot know about us.  If they realized just how many aliens were out there, a lot of them dangerous and hostile, there would be a panic.  We work in secret because it’s better for everyone, including aliens like you who have no desire to harm anyone.”

Kara frowned.  “But I’m your sister.  I thought we didn’t have secrets from each other.  You know everything about me, but it seems like I know nothing about you.”

“You know everything about me, too,” Alex said.  “At least the important things.  It was just this one thing that I couldn’t tell you.”

“But it wasn’t just one thing,” Kara argued.  “All those times you got a call and you had to leave—it wasn’t some lab emergency.  You were going out there and risking your life.  I know you’ve always been able to handle yourself, but you’re angry with me for putting myself in danger when you’ve been doing the exact same thing.  Except you’re human; it would be a lot easier for you to be killed than for me.”

“Look—” Alex sighed and shook her head.  “You’re my little sister.  It’s my job to protect you, not the other way around.”

“Can’t we protect each other?” Kara asked before shrugging.  “Or maybe neither of us needs protecting.”

“Will you do me a favor?” Alex asked.  “Don’t tell mom.  She doesn’t know either, and she has enough to worry about right now with you flying around the city in—whatever that was that you were wearing.”

Kara frowned.  “I didn’t think my costume was so bad.”

“Okay,” Alex said, letting out a slight laugh.  “If you say so.”

* * *

 

Kara grabbed her phone from the nightstand and answered it with a, “Hello.”

“There you are,” Winn said.  “I was beginning to worry.  I thought you would come back, but then you didn’t show.  They were saying the hostage situation was over, but you didn’t come back.”

“Sorry,” Kara replied.  “I didn’t mean for you to worry, but I sort of got held up.”

“Held up?” Winn asked.

Kara sighed and looked through the wall to see what her sister was doing.  She was busy in the kitchen, though, so Kara said, “Someone tried to kidnap me.  They shot me with something that knocked me out.  I was flying back to the school when I got hit by it.”

“Oh my god,” Winn said.  “How did you escape?”

“I didn’t,” Kara replied.  “Someone else got to me first and they let me go.  But it took me a while to wake up.  I was going to call you soon, but things have been a little busy at home.”

“Well, I mean, at least you’re okay,” Winn said.  “That’s all that really matters, right?  But now that I know you’re all safe and sound at home, I have some news.”

“What kind of news?” Kara wondered as she got more comfortable on the couch.

“Well, I may have overheard Lena talking to one of her friends in the hall,” Winn said.  “She wants to meet you.  Well, she wants to meet Supergirl.  She said she wants to thank you for saving her.  She said she sent out a tweet in the hopes that word would somehow get to you.  You’ve gotta go.”

“Talk to Lena?” Kara asked.  “Um, I don’t know.  There’s really no need for her to thank me.”

“Fine, but I think you should go,” Winn replied.  “If only to ensure that this Luthor isn’t going to try to kill you like her brother’s tried to kill your cousin a hundred times.”

Kara shook her head.  “Lena would never try to kill me.”

“How do you know?” Winn asked.

“I just—know,” Kara answered.

“Okay, but I still think you should go talk to her,” Winn replied.  “It couldn’t hurt anything.  At the very least, maybe you could get the daughter of a very powerful family on your side.  After all, she’s going to be running Luthor Corp one day.  That’s not an enemy you would want to make.”

Kara listened to Winn for a while longer, avoiding the question of whether or not she would go.  She didn’t really know if meeting Lena would be the best idea even though the thought was incredibly tempting.  She had been trying to work up the courage to talk to Lena since she came to West National City High, but still had never talked to her.  At least not as Kara Danvers, who she was pretty sure Lena didn’t even know existed.

The doorbell rang just as Kara got off the phone with Winn.  She listened to the door open and then close only a few moments later, but neither Alex nor the person at the door had said a word.  As her curiosity got the best of her, Kara left her room and walked into the living room.  Her sister was still in the kitchen, but there was a large box sitting on the island.

“Who was at the door?” Kara asked.

“Agent Yang,” Alex answered.  “She was dropping off a package.  Something she’s been working on for a few days.” Alex looked over her shoulder at Kara and then nodded toward the box.  “It’s for you.”

“For me?” Kara asked.

“Yes,” Alex replied.  “Go on.  Open it.”

Kara furrowed her brows in confusion as she wondered what some agent could possibly have been working on her for.  Slowly, she reached out and took the top off the box, her jaw dropping slightly when she saw what it held.

“But—” Kara’s frown grew.  “I thought you didn’t want me to do this.  Why would you have this made for me?”

“Because I know how stubborn you can be and I knew you would never give this up,” Alex replied.  “Turns out I was right.”

Kara pulled the suit out from the box.  It was red and blue like the one Winn had made for her, but the fabric of it was completely different and the crest on the front was much more prominent.

“This one won’t get holes in it like the other,” Alex said.  “Clark sent the cape.”

“He did?” Kara asked as she ran her hand over the crest.

Alex nodded.  “I may not like what you’ve decided to do, but that doesn’t mean I’m not still proud of you.  I thought you should look the part of a superhero if you’re going to be one.”

“Thank you, Alex,” Kara said, smiling softly at her sister.

“Don’t mention it,” Alex replied.  “Especially to mom.  If she asks, you didn’t get the suit from me, okay?”

Kara laughed.  “I promise I won’t say a word.”

* * *

 

Kara was floating in the air, staring at Lena’s penthouse.  She had stopped to see if the other girl was alone inside, but she still hadn’t moved in the past few minutes even though it was obvious Lena was alone.  Partly because she was trying to convince herself that talking to Lena was a perfectly fine idea and partly out of nerves.

After a few more minutes, Kara took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before finally flying the rest of the distance to the Luthors’ penthouse.  She soundlessly landed on the balcony and walked over to the door, lightly tapping on it.  For a moment, she wondered if Lena had even heard her, but then she heard footsteps that were coming closer.

“Supergirl!” Lena said when she peered out onto the balcony.

“I hope this is okay,” Kara said, taking a step back as Lena opened the door.  “I was told you wished to speak to me.”

Lena nodded and gave her smile.  “Yes.  I realized I didn’t actually thank you the other day for probably saving my life.  You didn’t have to come for me, but you did.”

“There’s no need to thank me, Miss Luthor,” Kara said.

“Please, call me Lena,” she replied.

“Lena,” Kara said with a nod.  “I was glad I could help.”

Lena’s eyes drifted down and Kara followed her gaze to the symbol on her suit.

“I see you have a new outfit,” Lena commented.

“Brand new,” Kara said with a slight smile.  “I figured if I was going to play the part, I should look the part.”

Lena hummed.  “Well, you certainly look the part now.  I take it you and Superman are related given you both wear the same symbol on your chest?”

Kara hesitated a moment before nodded.  “Yes, we’re related.”

“I think I owe you more than a thanks, then,” Lena said, slowly looking back into Kara’s eyes.  “I certainly never thought a Super would be saving me.  The Luthors haven’t exactly been friends of Superman’s.  I actually wondered if I was ever in trouble if he would come to my rescue, but I guess I have to wonder no longer.  I have you to do that, which is slightly better.”

“I think most people would prefer Superman,” Kara remarked.

“Well, I’m not most people,” Lena replied, smiling.

Kara cleared her throat and looked down.  It was the first time she had ever seen Lena smile like that and it felt a bit overwhelming for it to be directed at her.  She noticed it made Lena look younger.  While she was only eighteen years old, Kara figured most people would guess she was quite a few years older.  Kara always thought it was because Lena looked so serious.

“For the record, I like the new look,” Lena said, reaching out, and touching Kara’s arm.  “It suits you.  You don’t seem like someone who would wear all black.”

“That was my temporary look,” Kara replied.

“Good,” Lena said, her eyes looking over Kara.  “This one’s certainly much more flattering on you.”

“I, um, I should be going,” Kara said.  “You know—things to do, people to save.”

Kara cringed slightly, but Lena didn’t seem to notice.  In fact, she simply smiled again as she took a step closer to Kara, who was trying not to blush.  If she could even blush.  She wasn’t quite sure if it was something Kryptonians could do, but it certainly felt like she was trying to.

“Thank you again,” Lena replied, her hand going to Kara’s, and squeezing it.

“I told you, there’s no need to thank me,” Kara said.

Lena shook her head.  “But there is.  I know I was going to die.  I felt it.  But then you came in and rescued me even though my last name is Luthor.  Most wouldn’t have done that if they were in your position.”

“I know you’re not your brother,” Kara replied.

“A lot of people assume I’m just like him,” Lena stated.

“A lot of people are wrong, then,” Kara replied.  “Everyone deserves a chance to be their own person.”

“Thank you,” Lena said.

I told you, you don’t need to thank me,” Kara replied.

“No, not for saving me, although I am quite grateful for that,” Lena said.  “Thank you for not being like the rest of the population.  For giving me a chance.”

“Any time, Miss Luthor,” Kara replied.  “Lena.”

Lena nodded, giving her a slight smile, and Kara bent her knees and propelled herself into the air.  She felt lighter than she had in a long time, and as she flew across the city to her apartment, she couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off her face.


	4. Promises

Kara quickly glanced over at Lena before looking back down at her notebook, where she hadn’t taken a single note so far.  She’d been too distracted by Lena and everything that was going on in her life, and she had barely heard a word the teacher said.  And it wasn’t the first time that day; she hadn’t written more than a few sentences all day.

It had been two days, but she kept replaying her conversation with Lena over and over in her head.  It was the first time she had really spoken to Lena and she’d been surprised to find her so easy to talk to.  Kara had always been under the impression that Lena wasn’t the most personable individual in the world.  Which Kara would completely understand if Lena wasn’t the most friendly or open person.  She had been through a lot in her life.  Her family was rich, so she could imagine Lena got a lot of attention from people who only cared about her money and fame.  If Kara was in her position, she knew she would probably be closed off too.

But Lena hadn’t been.  She’d been nice and pleasant to talk to.  And Kara couldn’t be sure, but it almost seemed like Lena had been flirting with her.  Which was crazy.  As far as Kara knew, Lena was straight and certainly wouldn’t be interested in her.  Except it wasn’t exactly her.  It was Supergirl.  As Kara Danvers, she still didn’t know how to talk to Lena, and Lena still didn’t know she existed.

Lena had been at West National City High School since the end of her sophomore year.  She had arrived just after her brother had been sent to prison.  No one really knew why she had suddenly left boarding school to go to a public school, but a lot of people had been too excited to care.  It was like suddenly having a movie star walking down their hallways.

Not everyone had been thrilled, though.  Kara had overheard plenty of people questioning whether or not Lena was just like her brother, Lex.  Her brother who had killed dozens of people and wounded even more.  Many wondered if Lena was as psychotic as he was, but Kara always figured the chances of that were minuscule.  Lena was adopted, after all, so it’s not like she and Lex shared the same genes.  Plus, Lena had just never really seemed like the type who would hurt others.

The bell rang and Kara closed her notebook, but then quickly opened it again when she noticed the teacher had written an assignment on the board.  It wasn’t a lot, but Kara was already behind in a couple of her classes, and it was just one more thing she was going to have to do that evening.

Sighing, Kara tossed her notebook in her bag and finally made her way out of the classroom.   The moment she stepped into the hall, though, Winn called out her name and she stopped, turning toward him.

“Hey, I was just in class and I couldn’t help thinking about what happened to you the other day.  You know, how whoever shot you managed to get that needle to penetrate your skin, and I have a couple theories,” Winn rushed out.

“Not here,” Kara said, looking around.  “And please don’t say penetrate.”

Winn sighed.  “Fine.  How does Chinese and a Harry Potter marathon sound?”

Kara frowned, thrown by the sudden change in topic.  “For what?”

“For tonight,” Winn replied.  “I thought we could just relax.  I know it’s been a long week, so I thought we could have some fun tonight.  And maybe I could tell you my theories.”

“I can’t,” Kara said, shaking her head, and sighing.  “I have too much to do. I have chapters to read and math homework and a paper to start for English.”

“Can’t you just, like,” Winn glanced around, “you know.”

“Not exactly,” Kara said.

Winn hummed.  “Too bad.  That’d make things a lot easy.”

“You’re telling me,” Kara replied.

“Well, what about this weekend?” Winn asked.

“Maybe,” Kara said, staring off down the hall.

“Hey, you okay?” Winn asked, and she could hear the concern in his voice.

Kara nodded and looked at him.  “Yeah, I’m just—I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind.”

“About,” Winn shrugged, “you know.”

“No,” Kara said.  “I mean, yeah, but this isn’t about that.”

“What is this about, then?” Winn asked.

“How would you get someone to notice you when you’ve spent your whole life trying to go unnoticed?” Kara asked, stopping in the middle of the hallway to look at Winn.

“Uhh, who exactly do you want to notice you?” Winn asked back.

Kara sighed.  “No one.  Never mind.  It doesn’t really matter.”

“Kara,” Winn called after her when she began walking down the hallway again.

“I told you, it doesn’t matter,” Kara replied.  “Forget I asked.”

“Kara—”

“We’re both going to be late for class,” Kara interrupted.

Winn sighed.  “Fine, but if you do want to talk, you know I’m here, right?”

“I know,” Kara replied as she stopped and waited for him to catch up to her.

* * *

 

“Hey,” James said as he pulled his messenger bag off his shoulder and set it next to his desk.  “You alright?”

“Why does everyone keep asking me that?” Kara asked.  “Do I look that bad?”

“No, you just—you look a little preoccupied,” James replied.  “Like you have a lot on your mind.  Which really isn’t like you.”

“Oh, well, I guess I have had a few things on my mind, but I’m fine,” Kara said.  “Really.  I just wish everyone would stop worrying about me.  Not to say that _you’re_ worrying. Because why would you be worrying about me? I just mean that people keep bringing it up.  But I’m fine.  I promise.”

James smiled and nodded but didn’t say anything, which caused Kara to furrow her brows.  She could see on his face that he was clearly thinking something, though.

“Okay, what?” Kara asked.

“Nothing,” James replied with a shrug.  “You just sounded like you were trying to convince yourself just as much as you were trying to convince me.”

“Convince you of what?” Lucy asked, putting her hand on James’s shoulder.

“Nothing,” James answered.

Lucy smiled, but Kara could see that it didn’t reach her eyes.  She noticed that a lot with Lucy, though.  While Lucy was always friendly toward her, she could tell the other girl was hesitant about things.  Kara knew it was because of James.  Because Kara had had a crush on him when they were freshmen and Lucy could tell.  Kara wanted to tell Lucy that she had nothing to worry about—she respected their relationship and would never do anything to come between them—but she was always afraid of making things more awkward between them.

“He was just asking if I was okay,” Kara replied after a few moments.  “I guess I wasn’t very convincing when I said I was.”

“Well James is a pretty good listener,” Lucy said.  “Or if it’s more of a girl thing, I’m always here.  I know we’re not that close, but just know that it’s an option.”

“Thank you,” Kara replied.  “Both of you.  I think I’m going to be okay, though.  It’s just been a busy week and I’m a little overwhelmed with a few things, but I’ll be okay.”

“Kara Danvers.”

“Yes?” Kara asked, looking toward the door.

“You’re wanted in the office,” the girl said before the woman stepped out of the room and waited on her.

“I take it you don’t know what that’s about,” James said, looking at her face.

“No, but I’m sure it’s nothing,” Kara replied.

She gathered her things and gave Lucy and James a smile, but inside her mind was racing.  She’d never been called to the office before and she couldn’t think what it could possibly be about unless—Kara shook her head.  There was no way anyone had discovered she was Supergirl.  There were only a few blurry photographs out there and some grainy video.  No one could have possibly identified her from it.  Right?

“So, is there a reason they want me to come to the office?” Kara asked the woman she was following behind.  “I’m not in trouble right?” Kara gave a nervous laugh.  “I mean, what could I have possibly done to get in trouble?  I’m just boring ol’ Kara Danvers.”

“No, Miss Danvers, you’re not in trouble,” she replied.  “Your cousin is here.”

“My cousin?” Kara asked.  “Clark.”

The woman nodded.  “I think he’s here to take you to lunch.  Your sister called and OK’ed it.”

Kara smiled a genuine smile for the first time all day.  She hadn’t seen Clark in nearly a year, and she wondered what he was doing in National City.  He occasionally came there on business, but he usually let her know ahead of time.  She couldn’t remember the last time he’d just stopped by.

The thought gave Kara pause.  She’d talked to him on the phone earlier in the week, but this would be the first time they would really have the chance to talk since she’d saved Lena and come out to the world.  She knew he had been holding back on the phone, but now that he was there, she wondered what he was going to say.  Would he finally let her know just how upset he was or would he actually be happy for her?

“Kara,” Clark said, smiling at her as soon as she walked into the office.

“Hi, Clark,” Kara replied, smiling back, and walked into his open arms.

“I thought we could spend some of the afternoon together,” Clark said.  “Talk cousin to cousin.  Unfortunately, just for a couple of hours, though; I need to be headed back to Metropolis.  Plus, I don’t want to keep you too long.  I know you have class.”

“No, that—that sounds great,” Kara replied.

“Great,” Clark said, smiling.  “You pick the restaurant.”

“Really?” Kara asked.

Clark laughed.  “Really.”

“I know this great place that’s not far away!” Kara said.  “They have the best food.  You’re going to love it!”

* * *

 

“Isn’t this place the best?” Kara asked, digging into her lo mein.  “Alex says she’s tired of eating here, but I just don’t see how that’s possible.”

“How is Alex?” Clark asked.

“Okay, I guess,” Kara replied.  “She’s been busy with work, which may just be an excuse to be away from me right now.”

“I doubt that,” Clark said.  “Your sister loves you.”

“She may love me, but she isn’t the happiest with me right now,” Kara replied.  “She’s talking to me again, but I know she’s still upset.”

“She’s just worried,” Clark said.  “And I can sympathize.  It’s hard to see someone you love putting themselves in danger.”

“But she had to know this would happen one day,” Kara replied.  “I couldn’t stay hidden forever.  Not when there are people out there who could use my help.”

“You’re still pretty young, Kara,” Clark said.

“Technically, I’m older than both of you,” Kara argued.

Clark laughed.  “Okay.  I’ll give you that.  But you were asleep for most of it, so I don’t know if that counts.”

“Thank you for the,” Kara lowered her voice, “cape, by the way.  It meant a lot to me”

“I know how hard it is to find a good one,” Clark said, giving her a smile.

“So, is this why you’re here?” Kara asked.

“It’s one of the reasons,” Clark replied.  “I also wanted to see how you were doing.  I know it can all be a little overwhelming at first, especially when you don’t really have anyone to talk to.  I know you have Alex and Eliza, but sometimes it’s nice to have someone who’s gone through the same thing.”

“Are you angry with me?” Kara wondered.

Clark shook his head.  “I’m a little surprised that saving Lena Luthor was the first thing you did, but I get it.  I know what it’s like to feel like you have to do something.  It’s hard to sit back and watch a tragedy happen when you know there’s something you could have done about it.  That’s not to say I’m not concerned, though.

“You should be careful and lay low for a bit.  I’m not saying don’t help people, but try not to do too much, too soon.  You need to watch out for yourself, especially when you’re first getting used to your powers and learning your limits.  The more you do, the greater target you’ll become.  Right now, you’re strong, but there are people out there who are stronger than you.”

Kara nodded.  “Someone already tried to kidnap me.”

“What? Who?” Clark asked, the concern showing in his eyes.

“I don’t know,” Kara replied.  “The DEO is working on tracing it to whoever made it, but they haven’t been able to yet.”

“Wait,” Clark said, his concern turning into something else.  Something Kara couldn’t quite read.  “The DEO?”

“They got to me before whoever shot me with the tranquilizer could,” Kara replied.  “Alex is a part of them, which she probably wouldn’t want me telling you, but you’re my family and I’m not going to keep secrets from you.”

Clark sat back.  “So they got to you first?  How do you know they weren’t the ones responsible?”

“Because I trust Alex,” Kara stated.  “She wouldn’t lie to me.  Not about that.”

“Well, if she works for the DEO then she’s used to lying to people,” Clark replied.  “Which is something else I wanted to talk to you about.  Leading a double life.  It’s not as easy as you think and it’s only going to get harder.”

“I’ve always lied to everyone about who I am,” Kara said.  “It won’t be much of a change.”

“That’s what you think, but it’s going to get harder,” Clark replied.  “Not only do have to lie to people about who you are, but you’ll be lying to people about what you do and where you are.  You’ll be out to dinner with a friend or in the middle of a movie or on a date, and then you’ll have to make up some excuse to leave.  It’s not easy.  You’ll have to lie to people all the time and you’ll lose friends because of it.  I just want you to be prepared.  Doing what we do comes with a cost.”

“But it’s worth it, right?” Kara asked.

“I think so,” Clark replied.  “I can’t answer for you, though.  You’ll have to figure out if it’s worth it for you.”

Kara nodded.  “At least I’m not alone.”

“You’re right,” Clark replied.  “If you ever need to talk, you know where I am.  I’ll do my best to help you out.”

“Thank you,” Kara said.

Clark smiled.  “What are cousins for.”

* * *

 

Kara touched down behind the school and looked around to make sure she was alone before entering the building.  She was aware that she smelled like smoke, but there was nothing she could do about it now.  She was already late for school since she’d made a detour to save a family from a burning house, and she didn’t want to be even later.  She was going to be lucky to escape getting detention as it was; the last thing she wanted was to be even later.

It was starting to become a problem.  Clark had been right when he told her it would be harder than she thought.  She’d had lunch with him several weeks ago, and since then, she’d had a harder and harder time of coming up with excuses for her tardiness.  Or why she suddenly disappeared in the middle of the day.  Thankfully, Alex had covered for her some, but she knew people were wondering where she disappeared to all the time.

Kara stopped outside her first period classroom and listened for a moment.  The bell had rung at least fifteen minutes ago, but everyone was still chatting, so Kara opened the door, hoping to slip in unnoticed.  Unfortunately, the moment she started walking down the aisle, her teacher called out her name.

“Late again,” Mrs. Spencer commented, pulling a pad of paper out from her desk.

“I’m sorry,” Kara quickly apologized as the teacher filled out the slip of paper.  “My sister and I were stuck in traffic.  There was a fire or something, and they had some of the roads blocked off.”

“And yet you’re the only one who managed to be late,” Mrs. Spencer said, handing Kara the detention slip.

Kara sighed.  She wanted to say that it wasn’t like she had even missed anything.  The teacher wasn’t even teaching; everyone was still talking, so it’s not like it mattered.  Kara remained quiet, though, as she took her seat.  She didn’t want to get in more trouble than she was already in.

“Detention, huh?” James said as she took her seat.

“Unfortunately,” Kara replied, throwing the piece of paper into her bag.

“Everything okay?” James asked.  “You’ve been late a lot lately.”

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” Kara said with a shrug of her shoulders.  “I guess I’ve been distracted the past few weeks by some family stuff, but everything’s fine.  It’s just one of those things, you know?  But we’re fine. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure that’s all it is?” James asked.  “Family stuff.”

“Why do you ask?” Kara said, frowning slightly.

“Because you, uh, have a bit of soot on your cheek,” James said, reaching out, and wiping it away.

“Oh, well, we were really close to the fire,” Kara lied.  “Like, super close.  And it was a big fire.  Thankfully the people got out, though, and the fire was put out.  I actually saw Supergirl.  Can you believe that?  She was just right there.  She put the fire out and got the family to safety.”

“Sounds like they were lucky she was there at the right place and the right time,” James remarked.  “Then again, she seems to be saving a lot of people lately.  It’s just too bad no one’s gotten a good picture of her yet. “

“Oh, well, I’m sure someone will get one eventually,” Kara replied.  “I mean, it took a while for them to get one of Superman, too, but someone eventually did.  It’s probably only a matter of time.”  She nodded toward his camera, which was sitting atop his bag.  “Hey, maybe you’ll be the lucky person.”

James laughed.  “I doubt it.  It’s really just a hobby.  Or at least it is for now.  Who knows what I’ll do later.”

“Do you know where you’d like to go to college?” Kara wondered.

“I don’t know,” James said with a shrug.  “My mom wants me to stay in National City, but I’ve been thinking about going to Metropolis.  I’ve always kind of wanted to work at the Daily Planet.  What about you?  What are your big plans for after high school?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kara replied.  “I’ll probably just stay around here.”

“Well, it may not be as famous as a picture of Supergirl would be, but how about a picture for the yearbook,” James said, picking up his camera, and smiling at her.

“You’re doing yearbook?” Kara asked.

“Yeah,” James replied.  “I’m doing it as a favor.  They know I know my way around a camera, so I agreed to go to a few games and dances, take a few pictures.  I think they’re hoping I’ll do a better job than the staff last year.”

“Well, I don’t think you could do much worse,” Kara said.

“So, how ‘bout it?” James asked pointing the camera in her direction.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Kara replied, looking away.

“Too late,” James said, snapping a picture of her.

Kara gasped.  “That’s not fair!”

James laughed.  “If the photo is bad, I promise not to give it to them to publish.”

“You swear?” Kara asked.

“Scout’s honor,” James replied.

* * *

 

Kara checked her phone as she pushed open the door to the art room, almost dropping her lunch bag in the process.  She caught it midair, though, but heard her bag of chips pop inside.

“Oh no,” Kara said, frowning as she looked in the bag, where the chips where crushed all in the bottom.

Sighing, she walked to the nearest table and set her bag down.  She already wasn’t having the best day, and this was just one more annoyance.  It was why she had gone to the art room.  Winn had gone to the dentist and she preferred to be alone at the moment rather than sitting in the cafeteria.  With Winn there, she had their conversation to focus on, but sometimes when she was in a crowded room, things could become a little overwhelming.  It wasn’t as bad as it was when she first came to Earth, but it was still something she was working on.

“Oh, I’m sorry.  I didn’t think anyone else would be in here.”

Kara turned toward the door, where Lena Luthor was standing.  “Oh, that’s alright.  I just didn’t feel like being in the cafeteria today since my best friend is at the dentist and I—” Kara shook her head.  “I guess I just didn’t feel like eating alone in a room full of people.”

Lena nodded.  “I guess I’m having the opposite problem.  Sometimes I wish I could eat alone in there.”

“Oh?” Kara said.  “Why is that?  Not that you have to answer.”

Lena smiled slightly and walked into the room, closing the door behind her.  “I assume you know what happened to me three weeks ago.”

“Doesn’t everybody?” Kara asked.

“It would seem so,” Lena replied.  “Unfortunately, it’s all anyone seems to want to talk about.  At least when they’re around me.  And it doesn’t matter if I have nothing to tell them; somehow they’ll just talk about it amongst themselves.  It can be exhausting to be around people.”

“Well, if you want to stay, I promise not to ask you about it,” Kara said.

“Do you promise?” Lena asked.

Kara nodded.  “I promise.  Not a word about your kidnapping.”

“Or about Supergirl?” Lena asked.

Kara nodded again.  “I prom—people are asking you about Supergirl?”

“Of course,” Lena replied.  “Everyone wants to know about National City’s new superhero.  She’s all anyone wants to talk about.”

“Well, I promise not to ask you about her either,” Kara said.

Lena hummed.  “You would be a first.”

“I’m not saying I’m not curious, but she’s just a person, right?” Kara replied.  “Well, alien.  I’m assuming; I don’t actually know what she is, but I figure it’s safe to assume she’s an alien.  Sorry.  I’m rambling.  I do that sometimes.”

Lena gave her a slight nod.  “I’ve noticed.”

“You’ve—oh?” Kara said, trying not to let herself show her excitement that Lena Luthor had actually noticed something about her.

Lena walked over and pulled the other chair out from the table Kara had planned to sit at.  Kara hesitated a moment, turning away slightly before turning back, unsure as to whether or not to sit down.  Did Lena intend for them to sit at the same table or did she just not realize Kara had put her bag down there.

“It’s okay,” Lena said after a few moments.  “You can sit down.  I don’t bite.”

“Oh, right,” Kara replied, getting her answer.  “I know you don’t bite.”  Kara cleared her throat and tried not to roll her eyes at herself.  “I, you know, I just didn’t know if you wanted to be left alone.”

Lena pulled a salad from her bag while Kara pulled out two sandwiches, some leftover pizza, what was left of her chips, and an apple.  She saw Lena eyeing the food with an amused smile on her face, but she tried not to feel too self-conscious about it.

“So, I know I promise I wouldn’t ask, and I’m not going to, but how are you?” Kara asked.  “I know it had to be terrible to experience something like that.  Are you okay?”

“Do you know, I think that is the first time someone has asked me that,” Lena replied.

“Really?” Kara asked.

Lena nodded.  “It wasn’t exactly fun, but it’s getting better.  Thankfully, nothing too terrible happened to me thanks to Supergirl.  I owe her a lot.”

Kara tried not to blush as she pushed her glasses up.  “Well, luckily things worked out in the end, right?”

“Yeah,” Lena replied.  “Lucky.”


	5. Hi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, sorry this took so long. I’ve had a million chapters (okay, eight) written for quite a while, but I was not very successful with getting my wife to edit them. She finally started doing it last night, though, and finally started getting into the story so now she’s reading through them all. So this means it shouldn’t be too long between the next updates. Yay for that.

Kara was flying back to her apartment after pulling several people out of a pileup when she slowed.  She was only a block away from the Luthors’ penthouse and she could hear Lena’s voice.  It was calm, as was the woman’s who was talking to her, but it still gave Kara pause.  There was something in the way the woman was talking to Lena that made Kara worry.  The woman just sounded so cold and calculating.  And what was worse was that she could only assume it was Lena’s mom.

She listened to the woman until she said she was going to Luthor Corp and then Kara began flying again.  Instead of going home, though, she flew a couple laps around the block.  As she was going around for the fourth time, Kara turned and headed right for the penthouse, flying up to Lena’s window, where she hovered.

Kara lightly knocked on the window, not wanting to startle Lena.  Inside, she could hear Lena mumble something about wondering what on Earth the noise was, so Kara knocked again, this time a little louder.  A few seconds later, the curtains flew open, and Kara could see the surprise on Lena’s face when she saw her floating there.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting you again,” Lena said, opening the window.

“I was in the neighborhood and I thought I would stop by and see how you were doing,” Kara replied.  “You know, with the kidnapping and everything.”

She didn’t want Lena to know she’d overhead the conversation with her mother.  She didn’t think Lena would be happy about it even if she hadn’t deliberately done it.  It was just hard sometimes for Kara to block things out even when she tried to.

“You came to check on me?” Lena asked with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Yes,” Kara replied.

Lena looked at her for a moment before looking down at the floor and crossing her arms.  Kara couldn’t help wondering if she had somehow upset her, but then Lena took a step back and said, “Would you like to come in?  People may notice you up here, and I don’t know how happy people would be to find their new hero outside a Luthor’s bedroom window.”

“Would you like me to go?” Kara asked.

“No,” Lena replied.  “I would like you to stay.”

Kara nodded and climbed through Lena’s window, her cape swishing around her when she landed on the floor.  When she straightened up, she noticed Lena staring intently at her.

“I wasn’t sure if you would be here,” Kara commented as she looked around the large bedroom.

“Why is that?” Lena asked.

“I thought maybe you would be at a party or with your friends,” Kara replied.  “Isn’t that what high school students do?  I can imagine you’re probably rather popular.”

Lena shrugged.  “I guess, but I’m not one to care about popularity.  I’ve found that when you’re popular, no one really cares about you.  They care about what you can do for them.  Not that it’s any different than the rest of my life has been.  With the last name Luthor, everyone thinks you can do something for them.  They all want something from you, and when they get it, they’ll be gone.”

“That sounds like a lonely existence,” Kara said.

Lena gave her a strained smile.  “Yes.”

“I’m sure there are people in your life who care about you,” Kara said.

“Not anymore,” Lena replied.  “I’m just the only hope of carrying on the Luthor name.”

Kara shook her head.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Lena replied, turning away.

“You’re wrong, though,” Kara said after a few moments.  “There are people who care about you.”

“Is that your way of saying you care about me?” Lena asked, turning to look at Kara again.

“I—” Kara closed her mouth but nodded.

“But you barely know me,” Lena pointed out.

“I know enough,” Kara said.  “I know you’re a good person and I wish everyone else could see that.”

“What if I’m not a good person?” Lena asked.

“You are,” Kara replied.  “Probably even better than you know, and I’m not often wrong about these things.  I’ve always been a very good judge of character.”

Lena gave her a sad smile.  “Well, then, let’s hope your faith in me isn’t misplaced.  I would hate to disappoint you.”

Kara turned her head when she heard sirens, followed by several screams.  “I’m sorry to leave so quickly, but it sounds like some people may need my help.”

“No need to apologize,” Lena said.  “But maybe you could come back again sometime.  Just make sure my mother is out.  You may have saved me, but unfortunately it didn’t seem to change the way she feels about things.”

Kara nodded.  “Goodnight, Miss Luthor.”

“Lena,” she corrected.

“Lena,” Kara repeated, giving her a quick smile before jumping out the window and flying off.

* * *

 

“Okay, you’ve been way too quite all day,” Winn commented before taking a sip of water.

“It was a long weekend,” Kara said.

“Yeah, I heard,” Winn replied.  “A pileup, a hostage situation, two fires, and a road rage incident.  You’re just out there saving everyone now.”

Kara nodded absentmindedly as she glanced over at Lena.  After hearing the other girl talk about popularity and how everyone wanted something from her, she couldn’t help noticing that Lena was right.  She’d always just assumed Lena was friends with all the girls she usually sat with, but now Kara could see how little she seemed to talk to them.  Lena was surrounded by people, but yet she still looked completely alone at the moment.

“What are you—” Winn stopped talking when he followed Kara’s gaze.  He looked back and forth between her and Lena several times before his face lit up.  “Oh my god! You like Lena!”

“Winn!” Kara hissed.  “Will you keep your voice down?”

“You do!” Winn said.

“No, I—of course not,” Kara lied.  “She’s just—she’s Lena.  She’s just,” Kara sighed, “really pretty.”

“Why didn’t you ever say anything?” Winn asked.

“I don’t know,” Kara replied.  “It just never seemed relevant.”

Winn frowned.  “Wait.  But I thought you liked James.”

“I used to,” Kara replied.

“So you’re bisexual, then?” Winn whispered.

“I don’t know,” Kara said with a shrug.  “I’ve always just liked who I liked.  Things weren’t such a big deal on Krypton like they are here, so I’ve just never really thought about it.”

“So is that the whole reason you saved her?” Winn asked.  “I mean, if it’d been, like, Jenna or someone, would you have done the same thing?”

“I would like to say yes, but I don’t know,” Kara said, shaking her head.  “I just know I couldn’t stand the thought of anything happening to Lena.  I’d never even talked to her before that day, but I just couldn’t risk letting them hurt her.  I had to find her and I had to make sure she was safe.  I couldn’t not save her.”

“So what are you going to do now?” Winn asked.  “You have to do something.  You can’t just stare at her from afar.”

Kara let out a long sigh.  “She barely has any idea I exist.  She doesn’t even know my name.  She knows Supergirl.”

“So change that,” Winn said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“I don’t think it’s that simple,” Kara replied.

“But you’ve talked to her, right?” Winn asked.  “Maybe she didn’t know it was you, but it _was_ you.” He lowered his voice.  “You _are_ Supergirl.  You saved her life.”

“But it’s a lot easier to talk to her when I’m in the suit,” Kara said.  “She’s actually happy to see me and—”

“Wait,” Winn interrupted.  “How many times have you talked to her?”

“Well, when I took her home that night and after you told me she was looking for Supergirl and I sort of stopped by on Saturday,” Kara answered.”

“You just decided to stop by?” Winn said, looking slightly amused.

“I was flying by,” Kara replied, giving what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug.  “And I actually sort of had lunch with her on Friday, but not really.  I went to the art room to eat since you weren’t here, and she walked in.  She was looking for a quiet place.  She ended up staying.  We didn’t really talk a lot, though, and when I did talk to her, I couldn’t stop rambling.”

Winn hummed.  “Yeah, you do that when you’re nervous.”

“That’s why I can’t talk to her!” Kara said.  “At least not as Kara Danvers.  When I’m Supergirl, though, it’s so much better.  I’m not just the dorky girl she goes to school with.”

“Don’t you see—you’re always talking to her as Kara,” Winn replied.  “Even if you don’t have the suit on, you’re still you.  You just need to bring some of that confidence when you’re like this.”

“But I have a reason to talk to her as Supergirl,” Kara said.  “She’s going to think I’m just another person using her for her popularity if I start talking to her.”

“Then you’ll need to come up with a logical reason for why you’re talking to her,” Winn suggested.  “Tell her you didn’t hear a class assignment and ask her what it is!  Or, you know, go up to her and tell her you’re Supergirl.”

“I cannot do that,” Kara replied.

“Why not?” Winn asked.

“Because then Alex really would kill me,” Kara replied just as the bell rang.

“Well, then, we’ll just have to come up with something else, won’t we?” Winn asked, standing up.

* * *

 

Kara’s eyes were closed, but she could hear Alex walking toward the bedroom door.  She figured her sister was coming to tell her dinner was ready, but when she walked in, she didn’t say anything.  Instead, she walked over to Kara’s computer and turned off the music that was coming from its speakers.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Alex said.  “Why are you moping?”

“I’m not moping,” Kara replied.

“Okay, not only do you only listen to this angsty music when you’re moping, but you’re always in the kitchen when I’m making dinner,” Alex argued.  “You’re like a puppy hoping I’ll drop something.  Except in your case, you’re hoping I’ll turn my back and you can steal something without me seeing.”

“I’m not—”

“Do not tell me again that you’re not moping,” Alex interrupted.  “I know you better than to believe you, and you’re a terrible liar.  Now, are you going to tell me what is wrong or am I going to have to interrogate you.  Because I can.  It’s one of my many skills, and I have been up against aliens that are much harder to crack than you.”

“You’ve barely spoken to me in weeks,” Kara said.  “Why do you suddenly care?”

“Okay, that is an exaggeration that I’m going to let slide since something is clearly bothering you,” Alex replied.  “Maybe things still haven’t gotten quite back to normal, but don’t act like we don’t talk.  And I care for the same reasons I’ve always cared.  I love you and I want you to be happy, but you don’t seem very happy at the moment.  And I have it under pretty good authority that I am an excellent listener and advice giver.”

Kara sat up and ran her hand through her hair.  “I’m not moping.” Alex gave her a look.  “I’m not.”

“But?” Alex asked.

“Okay, if I talk to you about this, you’re not allowed to make fun of me,” Kara said, pointing at her sister.  “And I would also appreciate it if you never brought it up again.  Ever.”

“Please tell me you’re not about to ask me about sex, because I’m pretty sure mom explained everything—”

“Eww, no!” Kara quickly said.  “And thank you very much for bringing up those memories.  No, this isn’t about sex, but—” Kara sighed.  “Okay, hypothetically, let’s say there’s this person I like.”

“Hypothetically, huh?” Alex replied, smiling.  “Does this hypothetical person have a name?”

“Yes, but we don’t need to get into that,” Kara said.

Kara had absolutely no problem telling her sister that the person she liked was a girl, but she was afraid of telling her she’s a Luthor.  Her sister wasn’t exactly the family’s biggest fan and had been more than a little vocal about her concerns when Lena began going to her school.  And Kara couldn’t blame her, not with what Lex had done, but she did wish Alex would be a little more open-minded when it came to Lena.  After all, the girl had never done anything to show she was like her brother in any way.

“Okay, so, what’s the problem?” Alex asked.

“The problem is that I don’t know how to get them to notice me,” Kara said.  “Not after spending my whole life on Earth trying not to be noticed.”

“Have you tried talking to this person?” Alex asked.

“Not exactly,” Kara replied.  “I don’t even know how to start.  I don’t know what to do or say, and the one time we’ve really talked, I just rambled a lot.”

“Yeah, you do that a lot,” Alex commented.  “Especially when you’re nervous.  Maybe they found it cute.”

“Somehow I doubt that,” Kara replied.  “She’s sort of the opposite of rambly and she probably just thought I was a complete dork.”

Alex smiled.  “She?”

“Yeah,” Kara said.

“Well, why don’t you try starting with ‘hi’ and go from there,” Alex replied.

“That’s it?” Kara asked.  “That’s the best advice you can give me?”

Alex shrugged.  “It’s worked for me in the past.”

“Yes, but you don’t turn into a huge dork when you’re around someone you like,” Kara replied.  “You never panic”

“That’s not true,” Alex said.  “I’m just a little better at hiding it than you are.  But I’m serious.  Just say hi to her, and if she likes you back, I’m sure she’ll keep talking to you.  Just like if she likes you, she’ll probably find your rambling cute.  Just try to be yourself around her.”

Kara sighed.  “That’s not always easy.”

“I know, but I have faith in you,” Alex said.  “Now, dinner is ready if you’re hungry.  Or you can sit in here and listen to your angsty music for a while longer.”

“Dinner sounds good,” Kara replied, jumping up from the bed.

Alex laughed.  “I thought it might.”

* * *

 

Kara glanced down to make sure her suit was hidden beneath her shirt before opening the cafeteria door and walking inside.  She saw Winn alone at their usual table and made a beeline for him.  As soon as she spotted her, he sat up straighter, suddenly looking much more excited.

“There you are!” Winn said.  “How was the—you know.”

“How do you always know?” Kara asked.

“Twitter,” Winn answered.  “They said you were fighting some sort of alien with tentacles.  There was a sort of blurry picture and the thing looked huge from what I could tell.”

“Huge doesn’t begin to describe it,” Kara remarked.  “And I think it was the ugliest thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen plenty of weird aliens.  Luckily it was slow because it was hard to avoid all those tentacles.”

“Well, at least you didn’t have to miss class this time,” Winn said.

“Just most of lunch,” Kara replied.

“Yes, which is why I got this for you,” Winn said, picking up a tray of food from the seat beside of him, and setting it in front of Kara.  “I know hungry you get after a fight.”

“Oh my god,” Kara said, smiling widely.  “You’re the best.”

“I’ll remind you that you said that the next time you’re mad at me over something,” Winn replied.

“Hey, guys,” James said, walking up to the table.

“Hey,” Kara greeting.

James sat down, looking amused as Kara took a huge bite of her pizza.  “So, uh, we’re having a party at my place tomorrow night.  Nothing too huge, but there will be quite a few people from our class there.  Kind of a late Halloween party, but costumes aren’t required.  I was just stopping by to see if you two wanted to come.”

“A party?” Winn said, looking like Christmas had come early.

James nodded.  “People will probably start getting to my place around eight or so.  No alcohol because my mom would absolutely kill me, but it’s just a way for us to unwind a bit, have a little fun.”

“We will definitely be there,” Winn replied.

“Great,” James said, smiling.  “I have a few other people to invite, but I’ll see you there.”

Winn looked at Kara as James walked away.  “Dude, I’ve never been invited to a party before.  Why don’t you look more excited?”

“I don’t know,” Kara said, looking after James as he walked a few tables over.

“Seriously?  You’re going, right?” Winn replied.  “You have to go.  We just got invited to a party!  And not just any party.  We got invited to a party with the popular kids.  Do you know what a big deal that is?”

“I’m just not the partying type,” Kara said, scrunching her face up.

“But he even said there isn’t going to be any alcohol,” Winn replied.  “Just look at it like us getting together on Friday night for TV and board games.  Except with more people.” He paused for a moment.  “You know, Lena might be there.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Kara stated.

“Is it working?” Winn asked.

“No,” Kara said, drawing out the word.  “I mean, what does it really matter if she’s going to be there or not?  I see her here five days a week and I don’t talk to her, so what are the chances she would talk to me there?”

“You’re thinking about it,” Winn replied, leaning forward.  “I can see it in your eyes.  You’re thinking about going.”

“I’m—no,” Kara said, all too aware of how unconvincing she sounded.

“So, I guess that means I’ll see you there?” Winn replied with a knowing smile.  “Hey, are you going to go in costume?  I know he said they’re not required, but it could be fun.  I have that Batman costume I wore to the National City Comic Con that I could wear.  And you could always wear your Supergirl costume.”

“I am _not_ wearing my suit,” Kara said.

“But you are going?” Winn replied, smiling.

“I’ll—think about it,” Kara said.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” Winn replied, his smile growing.

* * *

 

“There’s more people here than I thought there would be!” Kara said over the music.

“I told you I should’ve worn my costume,” Winn commented when a guy walked by in a Superman costume.

Kara hummed as she looked around the room.  She spotted James on the other side with Lucy and he gave her a wave, which she returned with a smile.  Even if she wasn’t much of a party person, it was nice that he’d invited her and Winn.  Especially because he and Winn didn’t really talk beyond the times they’d interacted because of Kara.

“It’s really loud in here,” Kara said.

“Are you okay?” Winn asked.

“Yeah, but I think I’m going to go outside for a minute,” Kara said.

She was about to walk out the way they came in, but then she saw the door to the balcony.  She weaved her way through the crowd and opened the door.  As she walked into the cool air, she took a long, deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind of all the noise around her.  As she stood there, though, she realized she could hear someone’s heartbeat nearby and quickly opened her eyes to find that she wasn’t alone.

Lena didn’t seem to even notice that she was there, or if she did, she didn’t show it.  Kara turned slightly, ready to go back inside, but stopped and looked over at Lena again.  She looked lost in her own world at the moment, and Kara couldn’t help wondering what she was thinking about.

“Hi,” Kara said, quietly as to hopefully not startle Lena.

Lena tilted her head to the side for a moment before turning it and looking at Kara.  “Hi.”

“Is everything okay?” Kara asked.  “Not that it’s really any of my business, but you’re just out here all alone and you look a little—elsewhere.”  Kara shook her head at herself.  “That probably doesn’t even make any sense.”

“I’m fine,” Lena replied.  “Although, I guess I was sort of lost in my thoughts.”

“I can go if you want me to,” Kara said, pointing toward the door.  “I just thought I would get a little fresh air, but now I’ve gotten it, so I can leave if you want.  I’ll just—”

Kara turned to go inside, but Lena stopped her when she said, “Kara, wait.  You don’t have to leave if you don’t want to.”

“You—you know my name?” Kara said in surprise.

“Why wouldn’t I know your name?” Lena asked with a slight laugh.  “We’ve been in the same classes for the past two years.  We have three classes together right now.”

“I know.  I just—I didn’t know you knew who I was,” Kara replied.  “I mean, until the other day at lunch, we’d never even talked, so I just figured you had no idea who I was.”

“So, are you are you here with your boyfriend?” Lena asked.

“My what?” Kara asked back, furrowing her brows in confusion.

“That guy I see you with all the time,” Lena said.  “What’s his name? Finn?”

“Do you mean Winn?” Kara asked with a disbelieving laugh.  “He is not my boyfriend.  We are just friends and nothing more.  He’s just my best friend.  Well, I shouldn’t say _just_ my best friend.  That makes it sounds like having a best friend means nothing to me.” Kara shrugged.  “Winn is my best friend.”

“Oh, well, my mistake, then,” Lena replied.

“It’s fine,” Kara said.  “I’m sure you’re not the first to think it.  But to answer your question, we did come together.  James invited us and I didn’t really want to come because I’m not really into parties, but Winn talked me into it.”

“And how did he do that?” Lena asked.

“He just told me how much fun I’d have and how I should try to get out and do new things,” Kara lied.  “And he’s right.  You can’t always stay in your comfort zone.  Sometimes you have to do the things that scare you.”

“Was he right?” Lena asked.  “Are you having fun?”

“Oh, I just got here,” Kara answered.  “Not to say that talking to you isn’t fun or anything.” Kara shook her head.  “I just mean I haven’t really been here long, so I can’t really answer that question yet.  Who knows what the rest of the evening is going to hold.”

Lena hummed.  “Well, maybe your entire evening will be great.”

“Maybe,” Kara said, smiling.  “So, I know why I’m out here, but is there a reason you are?  Did you just need some fresh air, too?”

“Actually, I kind of needed to get away from everyone,” Lena replied.  “Since the abduction, I haven’t really felt like being around large groups of people.  I don’t even know why I came tonight.  I would be much happier at home with a good book.”

“Well, the night is still young,” Kara said.  “Maybe you can just stay here for a little while and then go enjoy the rest of your evening at home.”

“That would be easier to do if my mother wasn’t home tonight,” Lena remarked.  “You would think that she would ignore me given that I am the family disappointment, but she tends to take the opposite approach.”

Kara frowned.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like it’s your fault,” Lena replied.  “There’s no need to apologize.  It’s just how things are.”

Kara’s attention was drawn away from Lena when she heard several shouts and screams.  It was coming from several blocks away and the screams seemed to multiply after only a few moments.

“You have to be kidding me,” Kara mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?” Lena asked.

“Oh, nothing,” Kara answered, giving her an overly cheery smile.  “I just completely forgot I was supposed to do something for my sister and she’s going to be really mad if I don’t do it.”

Lena nodded.  “Well, then, I guess you better go do it.”

“Yeah,” Kara replied.  “I’m really sorry. I wish I could stay, but I really have to go.” Kara sighed.  “I’ll see you at school on Monday?”

“Goodnight, Kara,” Lena said.

Kara smiled at her.  “Goodnight.”

As Kara turned and walked back into the party to tell Winn she was taking off, she cursed the timing of everything.  She was finally having a conversation with Lena—a real conversation—but of course it had to get interrupted.  Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it.  People obviously needed her help and she couldn’t just let them fend for themselves even if she was finally getting to talk to Lena.


	6. Trapped

“Crap, my pencil just broke,” Winn mumbled behind Kara.

“It’s a mechanical pencil; how can it break?” Kara asked over her shoulder.

Winn held up the pencil and the clip that had broken off. “Like this.”

“I don’t think that’s going to stop it from writing,” Kara whispered.

“No, but it was my favorite one,” Winn replied.

Kara shook her head at her friend and then looked down at her paper.  They were working on a dozen math problems, and while most of the class still had their heads bent over their papers, Kara was always finished.  She had worked similar problems on Krypton at a much younger age, so she’d never had any problem when it came to math.  It was things like history and English that’d she’d struggled with.

“Are you seriously already done?” Winn asked.

Kara opened her mouth to answer, but a loud boom stopped her.  The whole classroom shook and several people shrieked, covering their heads.  There were several more loud booms in quick succession and Kara gripped the edge of her desk.  Her first instinct was to run out of the room to see what was happening, but she couldn’t risk it.  She knew it would cause people to ask questions, and she couldn’t do anything so suspicious.

As some people ducked under their desks for cover, Kara lowered her glasses and looked through the walls of the school.  There were so many rooms and people that it was hard to see if there was anything out of the ordinary or if the explosions had originated in the school or simply nearby.

“Have you figured out what that was?” Winn asked.

Kara sighed in frustration.  “I can’t tell.  There’s so much stuff around that it’s hard to figure out what’s what.  Wait—there’s a hole in the wall.”

“Where?” Winn asked.

“In the gym,” Kara answered.

“A bomb?” Winn asked.

Kara shook her head.  “I have no idea.  I don’t see the cause of it.”

There was a longer, louder rumble and dust fell to the floor around her.  Winn threw his arms over his head, and Kara put her hand on his arm.  Even if the entire school fell in, she knew nothing was likely to hurt her, but the same couldn’t be said for everyone else.

“We should get everyone out of here,” Kara commented.

“You think?” Winn sarcastically said.

“Miss Jacobson?” Kara said, standing up.

“Sit down, Miss Danvers,” Miss Jacobson ordered.

Before Kara could suggest evacuation, a voice came over the intercom telling the teachers to escort the students out in an orderly fashion.  As soon as the announcement was made, though, half the class began running toward the door.  The teacher called for the students to remain calm, but no one was paying any attention to her.

“Come on,” Kara said.  “We need to get you out of here.”

“What the hell do you think’s going on?” James asked, looking over at her.

Kara shook her head.  “I have no idea.”

“Whatever it is, something tells me it can’t be any good,” Winn answered.

“Definitely not,” Lucy remarked.

The building shook more violently than ever and Lena, who was just in front of Kara and Winn, was knocked off her feet.  Just before she hit the ground, though, Kara sprung forward, grabbing under her arms.

“Whoa, nice save,” James said.

“Yes, thank you,” Lena replied as Kara helped her to her feet.

Kara heard the ceiling above them cracking at the same time that James looked up.  For a moment, it seemed as if everything was going in slow motion.  She saw James’s eyes widen, and he grabbed Lucy, shielding her as he shouted for everyone to get down.  Kara pushed Winn down and under a desk before using her own body to shield Lena as the room began crumbling around them.

* * *

 

The first thing Kara became aware of once everything settled was the sound of four distinct heartbeats in the room with her.  They were all beating unnaturally fast, some faster than others.  The second thing she became aware of was the warm body in her arms and the third was the sound of someone groaning in pain.

“Is anyone hurt?” Kara called out.

“I’m fine,” Winn answered.  “I think.  Maybe I’m hurt and I’m just in shock.  I can’t actually see anything.”

“Are you okay?” Kara asked Lena.

“Yes, I think so,” Lena answered as Kara lessened her grip on her.

Kara squinted when the room finally lit up and Winn gave her a sheepish smile as he held up his phone.  “I thought we could use a light in here.”

“James? Lucy?” Kara asked, looking around.

“We’re—here,” Lucy answered.  “James’s leg is trapped.”

“We’ll get out you,” Kara said.  “Don’t worry.”

Kara looked over her shoulder.  She knew she could easily free Lucy and James, but she wasn’t alone and she couldn’t reveal her powers to Lena.  And it wasn’t like she was going to be able to hide what she was doing.  Most of the room had caved in, leaving just the small area they were standing in.  Considering they were in such close quarters, she doubted anything she did would be able to go unnoticed.  Especially not when Lena’s eyes never seemed to leave her.

“Winn, can you help me?” Kara asked.

“What?” Winn asked.  “Can’t y—” Kara shot him a look.  “Oh, yeah, of course.”

“Winn and I are going to move some of this rubble so we can get into you and work on freeing James,” Kara called out.

“Be careful,” Lucy replied.  “I don’t know how stable this is.”

Kara looked around for a moment, using her x-ray vision to figure out the best place to start.  A large piece of the ceiling had fallen through and was sitting upright against the desks.  Thankfully, nothing was above it, so she hoped nothing else fell through even if they did shift it.

“We can slide this to the side,” Kara mumbled to Winn.

“Are you sure?” Winn asked.

Kara nodded.  “It should be fine.” She pulled his phone out of his hand and held it out behind her.  “Lena, can you hold this for us?”

“Are you sure you don’t need my help?” Lena asked.

“I think we’ll be okay,” Kara answered.  “This doesn’t look too heavy.”

“It looks pretty heavy from here,” Lena replied as she took the phone from Kara.

“Okay, on three,” Kara said to Winn.  “One. Two. Three.”

Kara could easily move the piece of ceiling but acting like it was a bit of a struggle.  Slowly, they moved it to the side until there was enough room for them to slip through to the even smaller area that Lucy and James were in.

“That doesn’t look good,” Winn said when he saw James.

“I’m fine,” James replied.  “It doesn’t really hurt; I just can’t get it out.”

“Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?” Kara asked, trying to tell if anything was broken.

“Yeah,” James replied.  “I can move my foot and everything.  Luckily a desk or something stopped the beam from entirely falling on me, although I’m probably going to have a bruise.”

“Let’s hope that’s all it is,” Lucy said, entwining her finger’s with her boyfriend’s.

“Okay, Winn and I are going to lift this if you’re ready,” Kara said, walking over, and crouching down.

“I really don’t think you’re going to be able to lift it,” James remarked.

“Well, we can at least try,” Kara replied, looking at Winn, who nodded.  “Try to get your leg out as fast as possible.  Things may start falling once we move it.”

James nodded.  “Ready when you are.”

“Okay, go,” Kara said

She and Winn lifted the beam from James’s leg, and he quickly moved back with Lucy’s help.  A few things fell around them, and Kara quickly set the beam back down, hoping everything would stabilize.  After a few moments, things began to settle again, and James leaned back with a sigh of relief.

“You two are a lot stronger than you look,” Lucy commented.

“Yeah, I totally work out,” Winn replied, though Kara knew it was a total lie.

Kara felt her phone buzzing in her pocket and pulled it out to find Alex’s name on the screen.  “It’s my sister.  I should let her know I’m okay.”

“Yeah, let her know we’re down here and that someone needs to help us,” Winn said.

“Alex,” Kara said, answering her phone.

“Are you okay?” Alex quickly asked.

“I’m fine, but we need someone to get us out,” Kara replied.  “We were in class when everything came down around us.  I’m with Winn, Lucy, James, and Lena.  We’re safe right now, but I don’t know how long that’s going to last.”

“We’ll get you out,” Alex said.  “You have my word on that.  The DEO is already outside.  Just please do not do anything that will make people suspicious.  I know you want to get everyone out, but we’re working as quickly as we can.”

“Don’t worry,” Kara replied, glancing at the others in the room.  “I know.”

“Thank you,” Alex said.  “We’re using thermal imagining, so we know exactly where everyone is.  I’m looking at you right now.  I notice someone’s on the floor, though.”

“That’s James,” Kara replied.  “He’s okay, but something landed on his leg.  We got him out, but I think he may need medical attention.”

“I’m fine,” James said, waving her off.

“He doesn’t like to admit when things hurt,” Lucy replied.

“Look, we’ll be there as soon as we can,” Alex said.  “I’ll make sure the EMTs are on standby, so they can help him the moment we get you all out.  I’ll call you if anything changes or if there’s any news.”

“Okay,” Kara replied.  “And Alex?”

“Yes?” Alex asked.

“I love you,” Kara said.

“I love you, too, Kara,” Alex replied.

* * *

 

“Anyone want to play a game?” Winn asked, looking around at the other four.

“Not really,” Lucy answered.

“Any update from your sister?” James asked.

Kara looked at her phone and then shook her head.  “I’m sure they’ll be here any time, though.”

“I’m sure my dad is freaking out,” Lucy commented.  “He’s probably out there barking orders to everyone.  If he’s here.”

“I can definitely see him doing that,” James replied.

“I’m sure my mother hasn’t left the office,” Lena said.  “It would be too much of an inconvenience and hurt productivity.”

“You know who should be here?” Lucy asked.  “Supergirl.  If she’s such a hero, why hasn’t she come and gotten us all out by now?”

“Maybe she’s here, but she’s helping the people in immediate danger,” Winn replied.  “I mean, we are fairly safe where we are.  Maybe we’re just not the top priority right now.”

“Winn’s probably right,” James said.

“As someone whose life has been saved by Supergirl, I’m sure she’d be here if she could,” Lena replied.

A slight smile worked its way across Kara’s face and she looked over at Lena.  She noticed Lena’s heart rate quicken for a moment and Kara’s smile faltered as she wondered if Lena was more traumatized by the kidnapping than she’d been letting on.  Or maybe she was just scared thanks to their present predicament.

“Okay, so no one wants to play a game, but there has to be something we can do to pass the time,” Winn said after a few moments.  “Right? Does anyone have any ideas?”

“Yeah, sleeping,” James said, laying his head back.

“How are you feeling?” Kara asked.

“Just a little tired,” James replied.  “And sore.”

“Hopefully we’ll get out of here soon and get you to the hospital,” Lucy said, rubbing James’s shoulder.

Kara looked over at Lena again, who was staring forward, not paying attention to the others.  Several times, Kara tried to think of something to say to her, but nothing ever came out.  With a frown, Kara clasped her hands together and looked down at the floor, kicking at some of the rubble.  Not only could she not do anything to help, but she couldn’t even find the words to try to comfort Lena, and Kara hated that.  She hated feeling useless.

“Hey, you alright?” Winn asked, nudging her leg.

Kara nodded.  “Yeah, I’m just tried.  I wish we could get out of here.”

“That makes two of us,” Winn replied.  “If I know Alex at all, I’m sure she’ll have us out in no time.”

“I have a question about that,” James said.  “I thought your sister worked in a lab somewhere.  What’s she even doing here?”

“Oh, well, it’s a funny story,” Kara replied with a s nervous laugh.  “See, she does work in a lab, but she helps the police out a lot and since they know she has medical training, she was asked to come long.  Yeah, she’s multi-talented, and they thought they could use all the help they could get since they didn’t know how many people were injured.”

James nodded, but Kara noticed he had a slight frown on his face.  “Right.  Sure.  I guess that makes sense.”

Kara picked up her phone and shot off a text to Alex asking how much longer she thought it would be.  The last time she’d tried to use her x-ray vision to see how close they were, she drew too much attention to herself and figured she probably shouldn’t do it again.  After a few minutes her phone buzzed and she quickly looked at it.

“My sister says they’ll hopefully get to us with the hour,” Kara said, reading the text from her sister.  “She’s says they’ve ran into a few problems, so it’s going a little slower than they thought, but they don’t want to risk destabilizing the building.”

“Are we the only ones still in here?” Winn asked.

Kara nodded.  “I think so.  She told me earlier that this was the only part of the building that really collapsed.  There were a few others who were hurt, but they got them out.”

Winn hummed.  “Lucky us, huh?”

“It could be worse,” Kara said, shrugging.  “At least none of us were hurt too badly.”

“I guess that is true,” Winn agreed.

* * *

 

“Do you think Lena is okay?” Kara whispered to Winn.

“Huh?” Winn asked, looking away from his phone.

“Do you think Lena’s okay?” Kara repeated.

“I don’t know,” Winn said, glancing at the girl in question.  “Why don’t you go over and ask her?”

“I don’t want to bother her,” Kara replied.

Winn shook his head.  “You’re just being a chicken.  Go over there.”

“Winn looked back down at his screen and Kara hesitated a moment before standing up and walking over to Lena.  “Do you mind if I sit down?”

Lena shrugged as she looked up at her.  “If you’d like.”

Kara nodded and sat down next to her, leaning her back against one of the overturned desks.  It was darker where they were sitting, the only real light in the room coming from Lucy’s phone.  They’d used her phone as a flashlight after James’s battery had died since Winn was scrolling through the news on his and Kara’s was their only real source of information thanks to Alex’s updates.

“My sister will get us out soon,” Kara said.  “She won’t let anything happen to any of us.”

“Is your sister Supergirl?” Lena asked.

“What?” Kara asked back, looking over at her.

“I was just joking,” Lena replied.

“Oh,” Kara said with a slight laugh.  “No, she’s not Supergirl, but she’s pretty close to it.  Although, I’m sure that Supergirl, whoever she is, won’t let anything happen to us, either.”

“Must be nice to have a sister like that,” Lena commented.

“Yeah, I’m lucky,” Kara replied.

“Have you always been close?” Lena asked.

Kara shook her head.  “The Danvers only adopted me five years ago, and I think it was hard for Alex at first.  She was in school at the time, so I didn’t see her a lot in the beginning.  She came home that first summer, though, and we slowly started to get to know each other.  In a way, she sort of became like another mother.    She’s always trying to protect me even when I don’t need protecting.”  Kara shrugged.  “Maybe that’s just what older siblings do, though.  But that’s why I know she’ll get us out of here.  She protects people.”

“Is that why you appear so calm?” Lena asked.

“I don’t know if I would say I’m calm,” Kara said with a slight laugh.

“Well, then, you’re very good at hiding it,” Lena commented.

Kara smiled.  “That would be a first.  Everyone who knows me tells me what a terrible liar I am.”

“I can see that,” Lena replied.  “You seem like the type who wears your heart on your sleeve, and with people like that, their face usually gives them away.”

They both fell silently and Kara fidgeted with the hem of her cardigan.  She hoped that Lena was wrong about her face giving her away, because that could be more than a little embarrassing.

“You said you were adopted when you were—”

“Thirteen,” Kara said.

Lena nodded.  “Where were you before that?”

“Oh, um.” Kara frowned slightly.

“You don’t have to tell me,” Lena said.

Kara paused for a moment before slowly saying, “Before living with the Danvers, I was with my parents.  But there was an accident and they both died.  My cousin was the only family I had left, but he couldn’t really take care of me, so Eliza and Jeremiah agreed to take me in.  They knew my cousin and he thought they would be the perfect family for me.”

“Was he right?” Lena asked.

Kara slowly nodded.  “They were probably the best I could have asked for.”

“You still seem sad about it,” Lena commented.

Kara sighed.  “It still hurts a little that my cousin didn’t want me.  I know he thinks it was for the best, and it probably was, but that doesn’t stop it from hurting.”

“Rejection is always painful,” Lena replied.  “Even when you try to tell yourself it doesn’t matter.”

“You sound like you know from experience,” Kara softly said.

Lena nodded.  “I do.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara replied.

“You know, you and I seem to have quite a bit in common,” Lena said.

Kara opened her mouth to respond, but closed it and looked down at her phone when it vibrated in her hand.  “Alex says they’re almost through.”

“It’s about time,” Lucy replied.

“I guess we’ll finish this conversation later,” Lena said, looking over at Kara.

Kara nodded.  “I hope we get the chance.”

* * *

 

Kara was the last one out, insisting everyone else went before her.  Despite his protests, James had been the first one pulled out and was currently being tended to by the EMTs with Lucy by his side.

“Winn, it’s your turn,” Alex called out.

“I told you, I’m fine,” Winn replied.

“We’ll be the judge of that,” Alex said.

“You better go,” Kara said, nudging him.  “Alex doesn’t like being kept waiting.  Or people arguing with her.  You may want to get over there.”

“She does scare me a little,” Winn commented.

Kara laughed as Winn walked over to get checked out.  Even though James had really been the only one who was hurt, Alex was insisting they all get looked over by medical professionals.  Not that Kara had really needed it, but Alex had made her go first to keep up appearances.

“So, that’s your sister.”

Kara looked over her shoulder at Lena as she came to a stop just behind her.  “Yep, that’s Alex.”

Lena nodded and took a few steps forward until she was standing next to Kara.  “I don’t think she likes me very much.”

“What?” Kara asked.  “That’s crazy.” Kara frowned slightly.  “Did Alex say something to you?”

“She didn’t need to,” Lena replied.  “I’ve always been very good at reading body language.  It’s been useful throughout the years.  I can usually tell someone’s intentions before revealing it themselves.  And your sister, like a lot of other people around here, doesn’t trust me.”

“Oh, that’s nothing,” Kara quickly said.  “Alex doesn’t really trust anyone.  It’s not just you.”

“Do you know what your body language is telling me right now?” Lena asked.

“Oh—I—-” Kara shook her head.

“You don’t have to lie to spare my feelings,” Lena said.  “I’m used to the looks I get thanks to my last name.  Your sister wouldn’t be the first to dislike me.” Lena took a step forward but turned and looked at Kara.  “As I suspected, my mother’s not here, but she did send a car.  I’ve talked to the police already, and I’ve been cleared to go, so I guess I’ll see you around.” She glanced at the school building.  “Although, I’m guessing not on Monday.”

Kara nodded.  “Be careful.  It seems like bad things keep happening to you.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Lena replied before turning on her heel and walking off.

“Since when are you friends with a Luthor?”

Kara sighed at Alex’s word.  “I’m not exactly.” She turned around and looked at her sister.  “Is it my turn now?”

“I told them I’d look you over,” Alex said, motioning toward one of the ambulances.  “Have a seat.”

“So, does the DEO have any idea what caused this?” Kara asked as she followed Alex over and sat down.

“We know _what_ caused it, but not who,” Alex answered as she went about pretending to check Kara over.  “Or at least we think we know what caused it.  We think someone set off several devices around the building.  They’re working on recovering them now that everyone is free.”

“Devices?” Kara said.  “Someone set bombs around the school?  Who would do something like that?”

“That’s what we’re already looking into,” Alex replied.  “Did you see anything suspicious today?  Or anyone?”

“Now you’re stealing my line.”

Kara and Alex both looked over, and Kara felt her sister’s hand tighten on her arm.

“Detective Sawyer,” the newcomer said, pointing to herself as she looked at Alex.  “We met earlier.”

“Right,” Alex said, looking down as she began taking Kara’s blood pressure.

“You’re Kara Danvers, right?” the detective said.

“Yes, that’s me,” Kara replied.

“Getting back to what your sister asked, did you see anything or anyone that seemed suspicious today?” Detective Sawyer asked.  “Anything at all.  Even a window open that usually isn’t or someone sitting in a place they usually don’t.”

Kara shook her head.  “I didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary.”

“Detective—”

“Call me Maggie,” she interrupted.

“Okay, Maggie, why don’t I bring my sister by the police station tomorrow and she can give a statement,” Alex said.  “It’s been a long day for everyone and she would really like to get home.”

Maggie tilted her head as she looked at Alex.  “I can’t help noticing you didn’t seem to care when I was asking the others these same questions.  Why is that?”

“The others weren’t my sister,” Alex replied.  “And if you’re insinuating that my sister possibly had something to do with this—”

“I’m not,” Maggie stated.  “I’m just trying to find out who did.”

“Really, I don’t know anything,” Kara said with a smile, trying to defuse some of the tension she felt between her sister and the detective.  “I was just sitting in class when it happened.  I heard it at first and then I felt it.  The building started to shake every time like it was getting closer.  They eventually told us to evacuate and most of the people got out, but we were in the back of the line I guess and everything started caving in before we could leave.”

Maggie hummed.  “You’re lucky none of you were hurt worse.”

“I think Winn, Lena, and I dove under desks,” Kara replied.

“Okay, I guess that’s good enough for tonight,” Maggie said.  “If you think of anything, anything at all, give me a call.”

Kara nodded as she took the detective’s card.  “I will.  I promise.”

“I don’t like her,” Alex said, watching Maggie walk off.

“She’s just doing her job,” Kara replied.

“Were you telling her the truth?” Alex asked, still keeping her eyes on the detective.

“Yes,” Kara replied.  “Except the part where Winn didn’t so much as dive under a desk as I shoved him under one and I shielded Lena from getting crushed.  I thought diving under desks sounded better, though.”

Alex nodded.  “Yes, let’s stick to that story.”

Kara put her head against her sister’s arm.  “Can we go home now?”

“Yes, but I have to go back to headquarters after I drop you off,” Alex replied.

Kara frowned.  “Do you have to?”

“Unfortunately,” Alex replied, putting her arm around Kara’s shoulders.  “Will it make you feel better if we pick you up a pizza on the way home?”

“Maybe,” Kara said.

Alex smiled.  “I thought it might.”


	7. Another Time

“You’re up,” Alex said, quickly turning the television off when she noticed Kara shuffle into the room.

Kara frowned and rubbed her eyes.  “What was that?”

“What was what?” Alex asked.

“On the TV,” Kara said.  “There was something about me on there.”

“No there wasn’t,” Alex replied.

Kara frowned.  “And everyone tells me I’m the terrible liar in the family.  What was on the TV about me?”

Alex sighed and slowly reached for the remote, turning the television back on.  “They’re asking why you weren’t at the school yesterday.”

Kara’s frown grew deeper as she walked over to the couch, sitting down next to her sister.  On the screen, there were four people talking about how someone had bombed West National City High School and Supergirl had been nowhere to be found.  They were arguing about it, but they all seemed to be in agreement that Supergirl had let the city down.

“I knew I should have done something,” Kara said.

“There was nothing you could have done without compromising your identity,” Alex replied.  “You couldn’t risk it.  Not with that many people and no way of explaining.  You did the right thing even if they can’t see it.  They don’t know the whole story; you have to remember that.  Don’t beat yourself up for taking care of yourself.”

“But what if there’s something I could have done that I just didn’t think about?” Kara said.

“Like what?” Alex asked.

“I-I don’t know,” Kara replied.  “Just—something.  Anything.”

“You did what you had to do and you shouldn’t feel guilty about that,” Alex replied.  “There is absolutely nothing you could have done without compromising your identity to four other people.  You couldn’t risk it, especially when there was a Luthor in there with you.”

Kara frowned at the way Alex said Luthor.  Like it was a dirty word.  And while Kara understood that Lex had hurt a lot of people, he was just one member of the family.  It wasn’t like they were all bad, yet a lot of people seemed to assume they were.  That they all held Lex’s prejudices against outsiders.  Against people like Kara.

“I really think you should give Lena a chance,” Kara mumbled.

“What was that?” Alex asked.

Kara sighed.  “I said I think you should give Lena a chance.  I don’t think she’s like her brother.  She doesn’t seem bad at all.  She actually seems pretty nice.”

“So did Lex at first,” Alex replied.  “Just ask your cousin.  The Luthors can be quite charismatic when they want to be, but don’t let the charm fool you.  I’ve seen them destroy lives and they’ll do the same to you if you let them.  I know you like to think the best in people, but sometimes there’s only bad in someone.”

“Alex—”

“I really need to go,” Alex interrupted.  “I was just waiting for you to wake to make sure you’re okay.  You’re okay, right?”

Kara nodded.  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Good,” Alex replied.  “I need to get to the office.  We’re looking into possible leads about who would want to try to blow up a school.”

“Any luck so far?” Kara wondered.

“Unfortunately, we’ve found more than one possible group,” Alex replied.  “Tensions have been running high in National City lately, and it’s no telling what some of these groups will do.  The devices are currently being examined to see if there is anything on them that will point us to a certain group, but they’re clean so far.  They’re all made from stolen materials, so it’s going to be hard to pinpoint who made them.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Kara said.  “Do you want me to come in with you, though?  Maybe I can help in some way.”

“You should stay here,” Alex replied, shaking her head.  “Try to lay low.” She motioned to the television.  “Try to let all this blow over.  Some people aren’t happy with you right now, and people can do stupid things when they’re angry.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kara said, furrowing her brows.

“I’ll probably be home late,” Alex said as she stood up.  “I may not be home at all tonight, but I’ll call you and let you know if I’m not going to be.”

Kara nodded, but her mind was elsewhere.  Were people really that angry with her for not coming to the recuse?  Surely they had to know she would have been there if she could have been.

“Kara?” Alex said.

“You should go,” Kara said, looking up at her sister.  “The DEO needs you.”

Alex sighed and the nodded.  “We’ll talk when I get home, okay?”

“Okay,” Kara replied, giving her sister a strained smile.

* * *

 

“There you are,” Winn said as he pushed past Kara and walked into her apartment.  “I’ve been texting you for the past two days and you haven’t been answering.”

“Sorry, I’ve been busy,” Kara said.

Really, Kara didn’t know if she could consider sulking being busy, but she’d rather not get into the details at the moment.  After Alex had left the previous morning, Kara had gone online to see what people were saying about her, which turned out to be a huge mistake.  While some people were defending her, the majority of the people were criticizing her for not being there.  Since then, she had been moping around the apartment, not really wanting to talk to anyone, which was why Winn’s texts had gone unanswered.  She should have known he would eventually show up to the apartment, though.

“Have you found anything out?” Winn asked.  “The news is saying the police still don’t know what caused the explosions yet, but I thought maybe the DEO might know something.  Has your sister told you anything?  Do they know who did it?  And, hey, I know you’ve probably seen some of the stupid stories about Supergirl, but you really shouldn’t listen to any of them.  They don’t know what they’re talking about.  And it’s not like anyone was killed just because you weren’t there.  People would have been hurt anyways; you couldn’t have stopped that.  The only thing you could have done was gotten people out a little quicker.”

Kara’s mouth opened and closed several times as Alex came out from her room with her arms crossed over her chest.  The two sisters just stared at each other for several seconds, Kara’s eyes wide while Alex’s were narrowed as she looked between Winn and her sister.

“So, do they know anything?” Winn asked, clearly unaware that Alex was standing behind him.  “What?” He frowned, looking at Kara’s face.  “What is it?”

“What was that?” Alex asked, and Winn whipped around to look at her.

“Okay, so, Winn may know about me,” Kara said.  “And you.”

“Can we talk?” Alex asked, though it was clear it was a command and not a question.

“Look, Alex, Winn is my best friend, and I needed someone to talk to, so I told him, but he isn’t going to tell anyone else,” Kara rushed out.  “I trust him and so can you.  He’s good with keeping secrets and he would never put me in danger.  Right, Winn?”

“Yes, right,” Winn replied.  “I won’t tell anyone.”

“He promises,” Kara added.

“Yes, I promise,” Winn quickly said.

Alex sighed and looked down, shaking her head.  “I guess there’s nothing I can do about it now, but you are going to have to sign a non-disclosure agreement.  Oh, and I promise you if anything happens to Kara because she’s misplaced her trust in you, I will make sure no one ever finds your body.  Do you understand?”

Kara heard Winn gulp before saying, “Completely.”

“We’re going to have to have another talk when I get home,” Alex said to Kara.

“When you get home?” Where are you going?” Kara asked.

“I was just called in,” Alex said.  “I was coming to tell you.  We may have a lead and the director wants me to lead the team.  We have to hurry before they disappear.”

“When do you think you’ll be home?” Kara wondered.

Alex sighed.  “Late.  I’m sorry.  I know this keeps happening, but there isn’t a lot I can do about it.”

“I understand,” Kara said, shaking her head.  “The world needs you.  Probably more than it needs me.”

Alex wrapped her arms around Kara.  “Don’t say that.  I know things are hard right now, but they’ll get better.” Alex pulled away and she looked over at Winn.  “Do your best to cheer my sister up.  She’s been moping far too much lately.”

“I’ll definitely try,” Winn replied.

“I’ll see you later,” Alex said before grabbing her keys and leaving the apartment.

The moment the door was closed behind her, Winn let out a sigh of relief.  “Your sister can be scary.  Do you really think she’d kill me?”

“She is very protective,” Kara commented.

“Okay, see,” Winn pointed at her, “I don’t like that answer.  That answer is not comforting.”

“Do you want comfort or the truth?” Kara asked.

“At this point, I would like some comfort,” Winn replied.

“My sister won’t do anything to you,” Kara said.  “As long as you don’t give her a reason.”

“Okay, you know, I’m just going to ignore you said that,” Winn replied.  “I’m just going to go over there and choose a movie that’s going to make us both feel better.”

“Pitch Perfect?” Kara asked perking up.

“Only if you promise not to sing along to every song,” Winn said.

“Fine, but neither can you,” Kara replied.

Winn paused for a moment.  “Okay, how about we both just sing whenever we want?”

“Deal,” Kara said with a smile.

* * *

 

Kara closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of the wind whipping around her as she flew over the city.  It was the first time she had flown in a few days—the first time she had even left the apartment—and she had almost forgotten what it felt like to feel so weightless.  To feel so completely free.

There was no emergency.  Other than a few minor traffic accidents, she couldn’t hear a single person in the city that needed her help.  Kara just needed to get out, so she’d put her suit on and flown out the window with no real destination in mind.  That was until she began flying around the city a second time and found herself flying toward Lena’s penthouse.

She was taking her time flying, so it took her several minutes to get there, but she soon found herself floating outside Lena’s bedroom window.  She quickly knocked and floated back a few feet as she waited.  Unlike the last time, Lena answered quickly as if she had almost been expecting her or something.

“Supergirl,” Lena said with a smile as she pulled the window open.

“Good evening, Miss—Lena,” Kara said, giving her a smile back.  “I heard you were one of the students trapped in the school and I thought I would come by and see if you were okay.  I’m sorry I couldn’t be there—”

“It’s okay,” Lena interrupted.  “Really.  I’m fine.  You don’t always have to be everywhere.”

“That’s not what the media seem to think,” Kara said.  “They keep comparing everything I do to my cousin—”

Lena’s eyebrow rose and Kara quickly closed her mouth.  “Your cousin?”

“I really shouldn’t have said that,” Kara said.

“Well then, we’ll just ignore that you did.  Would you like to come in?” Lena asked.

“Oh, I probably shouldn’t,” Kara said, shaking her head.

“Why not?” Lena asked.  “Do you have places to be, people to save?”

Kara laughed and ducked her head.  “Not at the moment.  It’s been pretty quiet tonight.”

“Then why not come in for a bit?” Lena asked.  “No one else is here if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Kara opened her mouth to decline again, but she soon found herself nodding her head in agreement.  “Alright.  For a little bit.”

Kara climbed through the open window and floated down, her feet hitting the floor with barely a sound.  Lena was watching every move she made, and Kara tried her best not to show how nervous she was.

“Are you alright?” Lena asked.

Kara hummed.  “Yes, of course. I’m great.”

“Are you sure?” Lena asked.  “You seem a little—” Lena shook her head.  “I don’t know exactly.”

“I am,” Kara answered.  “It’s just been a long week.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Lena replied.  “The media are having a field day right now, aren’t they?  It’s not exactly fair, though.  I’m sure you have a life outside of this.”

Kara shrugged.  “They’re right.  I should have been there, and I would have been if I could have, but it just wasn’t possible.”

“You don’t have to explain to me,” Lena said.  “You’ve already saved me once.  I’ll always trust you.”

“I—I’m glad,” Kara replied.  “It seems like a lot of people have lost faith in me.”

“Well, they’re idiots,” Lena said, giving her a smile.

Kara smiled back and then opened her mouth but paused for a moment.  She would love nothing more than to stay there all night talking to Lena, but she knew she couldn’t.  She knew she really shouldn’t have even come there in the first place, but she couldn’t seem to help it.

“I should probably be going,” Kara reluctantly said.

“So soon?” Lena asked.

“Unfortunately,” Kara replied.

Lena nodded.  “Well, be safe out there, Supergirl.”

“I’ll do my best,” Kara replied, giving Lena another smile before turning on her heel.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” Lena asked, stopping Kara just as she got to the window.

“What?” Kara replied, turning around.

“Tomorrow evening,” Lena said.  “Say around seven.  Are you free?  I thought maybe we could have dinner together.  Here, of course, since I guess you can’t really go out to a restaurant like that.”

“Dinner?” Kara asked.  “Oh, um, I can’t.  I’m busy tomorrow night and the night after.”

“Alright,” Lena replied.  “Maybe another time then.”

“Yeah, another time,” Kara said.

Kara couldn’t believe Lena had just asked her to dinner and even more shocking was that she’d actually said no.  She wanted more than anything to be able to say yes, but she kept hearing Alex in the back of her head telling her she couldn’t risk it.  That she couldn’t allow herself to become too close to Lena even if that was exactly what she wanted to do.

* * *

 

“She asked you to dinner!  How could you say no?!”

“What if Alex is right?” Kara said as Winn continued to shake his head at her.  “What if Lena is like her brother and I’m just falling into a trap?”

“Do you really believe that?” Winn asked back.

Kara sighed and flopped down on the couch.  “No.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Winn asked.

“She surprised me,” Kara answered.  “I mean, she asked me to have dinner with her!  Who would have expected that?  And then I kept hearing Alex in my head and I just panicked and I lied and told her I already had plans.”

“Did she at least believe you?” Winn asked.

“I don’t know,” Kara replied.  “I hope so.  I don’t want her knowing I lied to her.” Kara sighed.  “Alex would kill me if she ever found out I had been going over there.  And it’s not just that.  I think part of the reason I panicked and said no was because I don’t know how to do this.  I hate being two people around her.  I want to get to know her as Kara, not just Supergirl, but it’s not like I can go over there as Kara Danvers.  She would just think I was weird.”

“Well, that’s going to be a problem,” Winn said.  “I mean, the school was pretty messed up.  I don’t know how we’re going to be able to go back.”

“You didn’t hear?” Kara asked.

Winn frowned.  “Hear what?”

“School is starting back on Monday,” Kara replied.  “The Luthors own a building that used to be a boarding school and Lillian Luthor offered to let us use it until the old school can be repaired.  Alex told me earlier.  She thinks they’re just doing it to try to get some good PR.”

“Seriously?” Winn asked.  “How haven’t I heard about it?”

“Maybe it’s not known to the general public yet,” Kara said, shrugging.  “My sister does tend to know things before others do.”

“And here I thought maybe we’d get to graduate early,” Winn remarked, furrowing his brows together.  “There goes my dream of doing nothing until college.”

“Did you really think that was going to happen?” Kara asked.

“No, but a guy can dream,” Winn wistfully said.

Kara groaned as she sat up.  “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?  I should order a pizza.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Winn said, holding his hands out.  “Slow down a second.  Where’s this building at?”

“It’s a few blocks from the school, over on third,” Kara answered.  “It’s that big building with the creepy looking gargoyles out front.”

“The one that’s supposedly haunted?” Winn asked.  “Where that boy killed himself?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s just a rumor,” Kara replied.  “I doubt anyone’s really died there, but if you’re really worried about it, I’m sure Alex would be able to look into it.”

“Alex would be able to look into what?” Alex asked, pulling her keys out of the front door.

“Winn’s worried about ghosts at the new school,” Kara answered.  “He’s heard it’s haunted.”

“Doubtful,” Alex said, closing the door, and throwing her keys on the island.

“Why is that?” Winn asked.

“Because ghosts don’t exist,” Alex said.

“Well, that’s good to know I guess,” Winn replied.

“Yeah, so, I assume I don’t need to look into anything, then?” Alex said.  “Because the DEO does have slightly more important things to do at the moment.”

Alex walked over to the couch and sat down next to Kara, putting her head on her sister’s shoulder.

“Rough day at the office?” Kara asked.

“We keep hitting dead ends,” Alex said with a sigh.  “Every time I think we’re getting somewhere with this investigation, we come up empty.  Someone is very good at hiding their tracks, which is never a good sign.  Something tells me this was just the beginning, and right now we have no way of stopping what’s to come.”

“Are you hungry?” Kara asked, leaning her head against her sister’s.  “I was just talking about ordering a pizza.”

“Starving,” Alex answered.  “I didn’t have time to stop to eat today.”

Kara frowned.  “That’s terrible.”

“It’s not the first time,” Alex replied.

“Okay, that settles it,” Kara said as she stood up.  “I’m going to order dinner.”

“Sounds good,” Alex said with a sigh.

* * *

 

The next night, Kara nervously fidgeted as she walked back and forth across the balcony.  She could hear Lena walking toward the door, and part of Kara wanted to fly off before Lena got to the door, but she remained there with her feet on the ground.  A few moments later, she finally stopped pacing and turned to the door as Lena opened it.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Lena said, leaning against the edge of the door.  “I thought you said you had plans.”

“I did, but something came up and things changed,” Kara said.

“Do you have time for dinner?” Lena asked.  “I could order something.  There’s this great Italian restaurant just down the street and I’m sure I could convince them to deliver.”

“No, I shouldn’t stay that long,” Kara replied.  “I just thought I would stop by for a moment to say hi.”

Lena smiled.  “Well, hello.  Would you like to come in?”

Kara smiled, ducking her head, and Lena stepped aside to allow her entry.

“It’s gotten colder,” Lena commented as she closed the door.

“Yeah, but it doesn’t really bother me,” Kara replied.  “Alien DNA and all.”

“So, you never get cold?” Lena asked.

“Not exactly,” Kara replied.  “I know it’s cold, but it doesn’t really bother me.  I’ve actually been told I’m better than a space heater.”

Lena hummed.  “Maybe I can test that theory one day.”

“I, um.” Kara cleared her throat.

Lena laughed.  “Why do I get the feeling I make you nervous?”

“Probably because you do,” Lena answered.

“Because I’m a Luthor?” Lena asked.

Kara shook her head.  “No, of course not.  It’s not like that.  I’m just—I’m not always good with people.  Especially when they’re—”

“Flirting with you?” Lena asked.

“I was going to say people I don’t know very well, but—you were flirting with me?” Kara said.

“You couldn’t tell?” Lena asked, an amused smile on her lips.  “I guess I’m going to have to up my game.”

“No—I mean, it crossed my mind, but then I just thought I was being ridiculous because why would you be flirting with _me_ , so I told myself it was just my imagination,” Kara said.

“Well, it’s not your imagination,” Lena replied, taking a step toward her.  “I have to admit, I’m a little intrigued by you.  Not to mention the fact that you’re beautiful.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” Kara said, furrowing her brows.

“Why wouldn’t I?” Lena asked.  “Or did you miss all that speculation on the internet about my sexuality?”

Kara opened and closed her mouth several times.  “I really don’t spend a lot of time online.  But I did read that your mom offered up a building until they can fix the high school.”

Lena rolled her eyes.  “It wasn’t exactly out of the goodness of her heart.  Luthor Corp has taken a big hit since Lex was arrested and she thought it would be good press.  She tried to trot me out with her when she made the announcement, but I refused.  She told me what a disappointment I was being, but that’s nothing new.  I think I’ve been the family disappointment since they day I was adopted, so why stop now?  She thinks I need to be as ruthless as she is if I’m going to take over the company, but I’m not going to become like her and like Lex.  If I have to take over the company one day, I’m going to do it my way.”

“I’m really sorry,” Kara said, shaking her head.

Lena shrugged.  “I’m used to it by now.”

“Maybe, but you shouldn’t have to be,” Kara said.  “You deserve people who love you unconditionally.  Who love you for you, not what you can do for them.”

“We can’t all be that lucky,” Lena replied, crossing her arms over her chest.  “Lex was the only one who ever cared about me, and he had to go crazy.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad he’s in jail—it’s where he deserves to be—but I do miss the person he was before he became obsessed with Superman.”

Kara furrowed her brows and looked down at the ground, but looked up when Lena’s hand wrapped around hers.

“Wow,” Lena softly said.

“What?” Kara asked.

“You are warm,” Lena answered, running her thumb along Kara’s knuckles.

Lena took a step forward and Kara became all too aware of how closely they were standing.  She had a million thoughts flying through her head—almost all related to the fact that Lena had admitted she was flirting with her—and she seemed unable to move.  The last time she had been so paralyzed was when she was on Krypton as a child and had been stung by a poisonous flower.  This time, though, it was entirely thanks to Lena whose eyes were staring into hers and whose hand was still wrapped tightly around hers.

After a few moments, when Kara didn’t move, Lena took another step forward and started to lean toward her but stopped when Kara cursed under her breath, causing Lena’s eyebrow to rise.

“I’m guessing you have to go,” Lena stated.

Kara nodded.  “I’m really sorry.  There’s an accident.  It sounds bad and they may need my help.”

“It’s funny how this keeps happening to us,” Lena said.

“Annoying is more like it,” Kara replied.

Lena smiled.  “Well, that’s good to know.”

“What is?” Kara asked.

“That you seem just as disappointed as I do,” Lena replied.  “Hopefully that means we can continue this another time.”

“I sure hope so,” Kara said.

Lena’s smile grew as she walked over and opened the balcony door for Kara.  “Go be a hero.”

Kara nodded and stepped onto the balcony, looking over her shoulder at Lena.  “Goodnight, Lena.”

“Be safe, Supergirl,” Lena replied.


	8. A Little Bit Closer

“Wow.”

“I know.”

“Wow.”

Kara and Winn were both standing in the middle of the hallway, staring down the long, ornate hallway.  Kara had expected the place to be a little rundown since it hadn’t been used in years, but apparently the Luthors had kept it up.  It was certainly nicer than their usual school, and it seemed like she and Winn weren’t the only two who were mesmerized by it.

“Did you get your locker assignment?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, they sent me an email,” Winn answered, his eyes still roaming around.  “This place is so much cooler than our school.  It’s exactly like what I imagined Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters would look like inside.”

“What?” Kara asked.

“We really need an X-Men movie marathon,” Winn replied, shaking his head.

“I think I’m going to go find my locker,” Kara said.

“I’ll be right here,” Winn replied, lifting his hand in a slight wave.

Kara pulled out the note she’d written with her locker number on it, and then began walking down the hallway.  People were chattering away, mostly about the new school and the bombing at their old one, but she heard the occasional mention of Supergirl.  She did her best to block it all out, though, trying to concentrate on finding her locker and nothing more.  Thankfully, she soon found herself in a hallway that was slightly more deserted and a lot less loud.

Kara found her locker and put in the combination she’d been sent, though she didn’t have much to put in it.  All but three of her books were still in her old locker, and even if she didn’t have super strength, she would have no trouble carrying them around all day.  Still, she threw two of them in along with a notebook and then closed the locker just as she heard her name called out.

“James,” she said, glancing down at his crutches.

“Your locker’s down here, too, huh?” James said.

“Yeah,” Kara replied.  “How are you doing?”

James shrugged.  “Alright.”

“I thought you said it wasn’t broken,” Kara said, furrowing her brows.

“It’s not, but they figured better safe than sorry,” James replied.  “I’m fine, though.  It doesn’t even really hurt now, but my mom made me bring the crutches.” He shook his head.  “She worries too much.”

“Well, like you said, better safe than sorry,” Kara said.

She hadn’t seen James since the EMTs had taken him away, but she had called him to check on him.  She knew from Alex that he was okay, but she’d wanted to hear it from him, and to also let him know she was glad he was okay.  She’d always briefly talked to Lucy but had made an excuse to get off the phone when it became a little too awkward.

“So, how are you doing?” James asked.

“Me?” Kara said.  “I’m fine.  I mean, it was scary and everything, but I didn’t even get a scratch.”

“I’m surprised,” James commented.

“Well, must have been in the right place,” Kara said with a nervous laugh.

“Did you have to talk to the police?” James asked as he began putting in the combination to his lock.

“Yeah, some detective asked me some questions before I left and then told me if I could think of anything else to call her,” Kara said with a shrug.  “I really didn’t know what all to tell her.  We were stuck in the room, so it’s not like we really saw anything.”

“Yeah, they asked me about that too,” James replied.  “I thought it was a little strange, but I guess they’re just doing their jobs.”

Kara nodded.  “So, is Lucy doing okay?”

“I think so,” James answered.  “I don’t really know, though.  She’s not always big on talking about things like being scared.  I guess it comes from being in military family.  But how could she not have been scared?  I think we all were.  You can’t have a building falling down around you without at least being a little concerned.”

“Maybe she’s still processing it,” Kara said.

“Maybe,” James replied, looking down the hall.  “There she is.  Hey, Luce.”

“What are you two up to?” Lucy asked, linking her arm with James’s.

“Just getting into our lockers,” James answered.

“You’re lucky yours is down here,” Lucy remarked.  “There were so many people around that I could barely get into mine.”

“I should probably go look for my first class,” Kara said, giving the two of them a smile.

“Wouldn’t wanna be late,” James replied.  “Mrs. Spencer does like to give you detention.”

Kara rolled her eyes.  “Don’t remind me.”

* * *

 

Kara was sitting toward the back of the room when Lena walked into the classroom.  She watched the dark haired girl for a moment before averting her eyes.  To her surprise, though, Lena sat down next to her only a few moments later.

“Hi,” Lena said.

“Um, hi,” Kara replied back, the surprise evident in her voice.

“How are you doing?” Lena asked.

“Fine, I’m fine,” Kara said.  “How about you?  How are you doing?”

“Oh, the usual,” Lena asked.

Kara nodded for a moment before asking, “How is the usual?”

Lena opened her mouth for a moment, but before saying anything, she closed it and looked away.  Kara thought about apologizing in case she had been too forward, but she decided not to say anything about it.

“The place is nice,” Kara commented after a bit.

Lena hummed.  “It brings back a few too many memories of being at boarding school for me.”

“Did you not like it at boarding school?” Kara asked.

“It had its benefits and its negatives,” Lena replied.  “There were people there with far more famous families than mine, so it was a little easier to go unnoticed.”

“So what didn’t you like about it?” Kara asked.  “Being away from your family?”

“No, that definitely wasn’t it,” Lena replied.  “I guess I just didn’t like all the gossiping and how everything was so confining.  Not to mention that having to live so close to my ex wasn’t exactly fun.”

“Your ex?” Kara repeated.

Lena smiled slightly.  “I see you have your book for this class.  Mine is under several tons of rubble at the moment.”

“Oh, well, we can always share,” Kara replied.  “Something tells me they’re not going to have enough to go around.  I only had mine because it was in my bag.”

Lena looked at her for a second before glancing down.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah, sure,” Kara said.  “Of course.”

“What made you—protect me?” Lena asked.  “You shielded me.  You could have hid under one of the desks like your friend, but you didn’t.”

“I don’t know,” Kara said, shaking her head.  “I just reacted.  I didn’t really think about it.”

“Interesting,” Lena replied.  “Most people would have saved themselves.”

“I guess I’m not like most people, then,” Kara said, pushing her glasses up.

“No, you’re not,” Lena replied.

James walked in and immediately looked over to Kara and Lena, raising his eyebrow.  Kara gave him a smile and a wave and he waved back before taking a seat at the front of the room.

“I didn’t realize you and James were friends until you showed up at his party,” Lena commented.

“Oh, we’re not exactly,” Kara said, shaking her head.  “I mean, we talk some, but I don’t know if I’d say we’re friends.  Really, Winn is my only friend.  There are other people I talk to, but he’s the only person I can say knows me well beyond superficial things.”

“That’s one more friend than I have, then,” Lena replied.  “Although, I guess I’ve sort of made a new friend recently.  Possibly.”

Kara hummed.  “Well, we may not be friends, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I’m here.  I’ve been told I’m a fairly good listener and I can also keep a secret.  I’m sure I’m not your first choice, but if you want to talk, especially about what happened last week—well, I know what you went through because I went through it too.”

“Are you always this nice?” Lena asked.

“Um,” Kara’s mouth opened and closed several times, “yes?”

Lena laughed.  “I figured.”

“Why is that?” Kara wondered.

“I don’t know,” Lena said, tilting her head slightly.  “You just seem like someone who is happy and likes others to be happy.  It’s refreshing.  So many people seem to have an ulterior motive when they talk to you.”

Kara smiled and then looked away, feeling slightly guilty.  She wouldn’t exactly call it an ulterior motive, but her crush on Lena was definitely a factor in why she was talking to her.  Not that she wouldn’t have talked to her anyway if she had been given the chance.  She just wouldn’t have had as much of a reason to seek her out.

“I have one other question.  Did the police talk to you?” Lena asked just as their teacher walked into the room.  “Or did they only question me because of who I am?”

“No, they talked to me, too, and I know they also talked to James and Winn,” Kara replied.  “Don’t worry.  I’m sure it was just standard procedure.”

Lena nodded.  “I certainly hope so.”

“There’s no way they could think you had anything to do with that in any way,” Kara assured her.  “I mean, you were in the building.  You could have been killed.  Who would do something that crazy?”

“You’d be surprised,” Lena replied, but before Kara could ask her what she meant, their teacher had begun talking, cutting her off.

* * *

 

“Kara, is everything okay?” Alex asked, her voice coming through loud and clear in Kara’s ear.

“Yeah, there’s only one guy left, but he’s hiding somewhere,” Kara answered.

“We’re almost there,” Alex said.  “Don’t do anything stupid.  Wait for backup.”

“If I wait for backup, he may escape,” Kara replied.  “And given the state of the art weapon he has, I don’t think you want that to happen.”

Kara heard a footstep behind her and ducked just as a beam of light hit the wall above her head.  She rolled out of way as the beam moved, and then took flight.  The man was already running, trying to hide again, but Kara took off after him.  He tried to shoot her once again, but tripped, and Kara swooped down, pulling the gun from his hands, and throwing it across the room.  Just as she landed, the doors to the warehouse opened, and Alex walked in, gun drawn, with six other agents.

“It’s all taken care of,” Kara said.  “He was the last one.”

Alex lowered her gun.  “Where are the others?”

“Tied up in the office upstairs,” Kara answered.

Alex nodded.  “Campbell, Riley, go upstairs and take them to the van for transportation,” Alex commanded.  “The rest of you sweep the area.”

“Need me for anything else?” Kara asked as everyone dispersed.

“No, you can go home,” Alex replied.

Kara nodded.  “Then I’ll do that.”

“Oh and good job, Supergirl,” Alex added.

Kara looked over her shoulder with a smile.  “Thanks.”

Kara took off through the open skylight and began flying across the city.  Instead of going straight home, though, she took a slight detour.

It wasn’t the first time she had deliberately passed by Lena’s place even though it wasn’t exactly along the way.  After hearing Lena and her mother that one night, though, Kara found herself flying by on her way home to make sure Lena was okay.  Usually, Lena was alone, but tonight Kara once again heard Lena’s mom criticizing her in that calm and cold voice she’d heard before.

Kara slowed as she listened to Lillian Luthor tell her daughter how disappointed she was in her.  How she hadn’t done something right and that she wasn’t a real Luthor.  It made Kara’s blood boil, and she wanted nothing more than to bust through the wall and fling Lena’s mom into the sun.  Unfortunately, she knew that wasn’t possible.  Lena had asked her to make sure her mother was out when she came around, and Kara didn’t want to make things even more difficult for her.

Kara froze midair for a moment before taking off toward her apartment.  She was there within seconds, dropping to the floor, and running to her bedroom.  As soon as she had the book she was looking for, Kara flew out of the apartment again, dropping down in the alley behind the building with the Luthor penthouse, and quickly changing out of her Supergirl outfit.

It was a little more difficult getting past the security guard than she’d anticipated, but she eventually talked her way through.  She’d learned from her time on Earth that a bright smile and cheery voice could get her just about anywhere, and the security guard was thankfully not immune to it, either.

As she stood in the elevator on her way to the top floor, she listened for Lena’s voice.  She hadn’t heard the other girl say a thing to refute what her mother was saying, which only made Kara want to wrap her arms around Lena and tell her just how wrong her mother was.  She wondered if Lena believed the things the older woman was saying or if she was actually able to ignore it and not let it get to her.  Although, Kara didn’t see how anyone could go unaffected by it.  Not with the things the older Luthor was saying.

Kara knocked on the door as quickly as she could, immediately interrupting the conversation inside.  As she waited for the door to open, she ran her hand through her ponytail and pushed her glasses up, plastering a smile on her face just as the door finally swung open.

“Um, hi, is Lena here?” Kara asked.

“And who are you?” Lillian asked.

“Oh, sorry,” Kara said, holding her hand out.  “I’m Kara Danvers.  I have class with Lena.”

“Lena, there’s a girl from your school here,” Lillian said over her shoulder.  “You didn’t tell me you were expecting company.”

“Oh, she’s not,” Kara said.  “We’re sharing a book in class and I thought she may need it.  We’re supposed to have a chapter read by tomorrow, so I thought I would bring it by.”

“Kara?” Lena questioned when she saw her.

Kara held up the book.  “I thought you may need this tonight.  Mrs. Spencer hinted at a pop quiz tomorrow, and I would hate for you to do badly just because your book is trapped in the other school.”

“We’ll continue our conversation tomorrow,” Lillian said, looking at her daughter.  “I’m going to head to the office.”

“This late?” Lena asked.

“The business world never stops,” Lillian replied.  “You’ll learn that one day.”

“It was nice meeting you,” Kara said, hoping her smile didn’t give away that she was lying between her teeth.

“You too,” Lillian replied.

Kara turned back to Lena, whose shoulders visibly relaxed.  “Anyway, I just wanted to bring you this.  I’ll get out of your way.”

“Actually, would you maybe like to watch a movie?” Lena asked.

“Really?” Kara asked back.

“Yes, really,” Lena replied.

“Um,” Kara looked around for a moment, “sure.”

“Well, then, come in,” Lena said, opening the door wider.

* * *

 

As Kara reached for another slice of pizza, she could see from the corner of her eye that Lena was watching her.  She quickly reached up to make sure she didn’t have any sauce or crumbs on her face, but her hand came away clean.

“What?” Kara said.  “Am I missing some food on my face?”

Lena shook her head.  “I’ve just never seen anyone so thin eat so much.”

Kara felt herself blushing.  “Oh.”

“It’s not bad,” Lena said, shaking her head.  “I’m jealous, actually.”

“I’ve always had a fast metabolism,” Kara said with a shrug.  “My sister complains about it all the time.  She says I’m going to make her fat since I always want to eat out.”

Lena hummed.  “She’s who you live with, right?”

Kara nodded.  “I moved in with her last year.  Our mom is a bio-engineer and she’s working on some product for the government.  I’m not even sure where she is right now.  She didn’t want to uproot me and I didn’t want her to miss out on doing something so important, so I moved in with Alex.  It just worked out best for everyone.”

“You really don’t know where she is?” Lena asked.

Kara shook her head.  “She’s not supposed to say and I haven’t really asked.”

“I wish my mother would move to some classified location,” Lena remarked.

“Your mother seems—” Kara didn’t know what to say.  She couldn’t let Lena know she’d overheard her without having some explaining to do.  “Um, not the friendliest.  She didn’t seem very happy that I was here.”

“That’s just mother,” Lena replied.

Lena looked at the television again, and Kara did the same, quickly eating her slice of pizza.  She’d been there at least an hour, but it still felt strange to be sitting there on the couch with Lena, eating pizza, and watching a movie.  Kara was just glad there was a couch cushion between them because she didn’t know what she would do if Lena was right next to her.  At least with Lena a few feet away she had managed to not act like a complete dork.

As she set her plate down on the coffee table, she heard a siren go by outside.  She stiffened for a moment, listening to see if it was something that needed her attention, but it was only someone getting pulled over for speeding.  Next to her, though, she noticed Lena had tensed as well, but she remained that way even after the siren was gone.

“Are you okay, Lena?” Kara asked, furrowing her brows in concern.

“I’m fine,” Lena replied.

“Are you really?” Kara asked.

Lena sighed.  “It’s just been a long few months.  I guess I’m a little jumpier than I care to admit after the kidnapping and the bombing at the school.”

“It’s okay,” Kara told her.  “You have every right to be a little traumatized.  You’ve been through a lot.  I doubt anyone would come through it without being at least a little jumpy.  What happened at the school was scary, and I imagine being kidnapped was even scarier.  At least at the school you weren’t alone.  I know that made me feel a little better.”

“Please don’t tell anyone this, but I keep having nightmares that I’m trapped,” Lena said.  “That I can’t seem to move because I’m bound and confined in a small space.  I feel foolish that I keep having these dreams and that I wake up with my heart pounding, but they just keep happening.”

“Have you thought about talking to someone about them?” Kara asked.

Lena gave a hollow laugh.  “My mother would love that.  Telling a stranger my problems.  She’d probably throw a fit if she knew I was telling you.”

“I guess it’s a good thing that she doesn’t have to know, right?” Kara said.

Lena stared at her for a moment before nodding.  “Hopefully you weren’t lying about being able to keep a secret.”

“I’m not,” Kara quickly replied.  “I promise.”

“I guess time will tell,” Lena said, looking back at the television.

* * *

 

“Where have you been?”

Kara flinched at her sister’s tone as she closed the front door.  She’d hoped Alex wasn’t home yet, but it seemed like she had gotten home early for once.

“You left the scene almost three hours ago,” Alex said.  “You said you were coming home.  I’ve been texting and calling you, but you didn’t answer and you turned your earpiece off.”  Alex started pacing and Kara knew she was in big trouble.  “I thought something had happened to you! I thought maybe someone had tried to abduct you again and this time there was no one there to stop it!  I kept thinking about you in a cage somewhere or worse.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara replied.  “I didn’t mean to make you worry.  My battery died hours ago and I turned my earpiece off because it’s hard to have a conversation when you hear a bunch of other people in your head.”

“Where were you?” Alex asked.

“I was at a friend’s,” Kara replied.  “Sort of.  I was flying by their place and heard something, so I thought I would check on them.  We ended up ordering pizza and watching a movie.”

“I called Winn—”

“I wasn’t at Winn’s,” Kara interrupted.  “I was with someone else.”

“Who?” Alex asked, talking a step toward Kara, her hands on her hips.

Kara paused for a moment before lifting her chin and saying, “Lena.”

“Lena?” Alex said.  “As in Lena Luthor?”

“Yes,” Kara answered, mirroring Alex when she put her hands on her hips in defiance.

“Why on Earth would you go over to Lena Luthor’s?” Alex asked.  “Her family is dangerous.  You cannot trust them so why would you ever—” Alex stopped, holding her hand up.  “Oh no. No.  Please tell me she is not the one you have a crush on.”

“I can’t do that,” Kara mumbled.

“Oh my god,” Alex said, walking back and forth in front of Kara.  “Out of everyone on this planet, you choose to like her?”

“I didn’t exactly choose it,” Kara argued.

“What were you doing over there tonight?” Alex asked.  “How could you go over there?”

Kara sighed.  “Because I heard her mom, okay?  She’s horrible to her.  She’s emotionally abusive.  She’s always telling her she’s not a real Luthor and that she’s disappointed in her and she’s not good enough and—I had to stop it, okay?  I had to go over there and make sure Lena was okay.  This wasn’t the first night I’ve flown by and heard her mother saying these things to her.  So I grabbed my book and told her I thought she may need it since we’re sharing it in class.  Her mom left and Lena asked if I’d want to watch a movie.  So I stayed, hoping it would make her feel better if she wasn’t alone.  She doesn’t know I’m Supergirl if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“I’m worried about you getting hurt,” Alex replied.

“Lena deserves a chance,” Kara stated.  “Just because her family is bad, it doesn’t mean she is.  I know her family can be cruel. but they’re also directing that cruelty at her.  If I’m wrong about her, feel free to tell me you told me so, but I’m going to give her a chance.  I hope you will too.”

Alex sighed.  “Does her mom really say those things to her?”

“Yes,” Kara replied.  “She’s horrible.  I wish there was something I could do about it, but I figure it’ll only make things worse if I go over there as Supergirl.  And it’s not like threatening her as Kara Danvers will do much good.”

Alex dropped her arms.  “I’ve looked into Lillian Luthor before, but maybe I can take another look.  See if I can find anything on her.  But I want you to promise me that you will be careful around her and her daughter.  Maybe Lena is a perfectly nice person, but I still want you to keep your guard up, okay? Promise me.”

“I promise I’ll be careful,” Kara replied.  “Just don’t ask me to stay away from Lena.  You’re my sister and I love you and want you to approve of the things I do, but—I like Lena.  I like being around her and talking to her, and I know she needs someone to talk to just as much, if not more.”

“You know, out of all the conversations I thought we would have, this was not one of them,” Alex remarked with a sigh.  “But I trust you, so I will try to be supportive of your friendship.”

“Thank you,” Kara said, walking over, and pulling her sister into a hug.

“Just please do not make me regret it,” Alex replied as she hugged Kara back.


	9. Invitation

Kara popped her head out of her bedroom when she heard the front door open and close.  She’d heard Alex leave in the middle of the night and had tried not to worry when Alex still wasn’t back when she woke up.  It wasn’t the first time her sister had to leave suddenly and she knew it wouldn’t be the last.  Especially not with the way things had been going lately.

“I’m so glad to be home,” Alex said, throwing her things down onto the island.

“You look exhausted,” Kara commented.

“That’s because I am,” Alex replied.

“What happened?” Kara wondered, walking out of her bedroom.

Alex sighed.  “There was a break in at Luthor Corp.  Some classified and very dangerous weapons were stolen.  We went over every inch of the building and have been scouring the streets for anything that could lead us to them, but we’ve come up empty.”

“What kind of dangerous weapons?” Kara asked.

“We don’t know exactly,” Alex answered.  “Lillian Luthor is not exactly being very cooperative.  She keeps saying that it was some new technology they were working on and that it’s classified.” Alex paused for a moment.  “Between you and me, I think it was an inside job, but I can’t prove it yet.”

“Inside job?” Kara said.  “Do you think Lena’s mom had something to do with it?”

“Possibly,” Alex replied.  “There’s just something about that woman.  I know she’s up to something.  I can see it on that smirky little face of hers.”

“Smirky little face?” Kara repeated in amusement.

“Give me a break; I only had about 2 hours of sleep,” Alex replied.

“Okay, so, other than these top secret weapons being stolen, was anything else taken?” Kara asked.

Alex shook her head.  “Not that we know of, but who knows if she’s telling the truth.” Alex ran her hand through her hair.  “Two guards were killed.  It looked like they were vaporized somehow.”

“Vaporized?” Kara replied.  “From what?”

“We don’t know if it happened when the thief was coming in or going out,” Alex said.  “If it was going out, then we at least know one thing those weapons are capable of.”

“But that’s—why would anyone make a weapon like that?” Kara asked.

“Why do you think?” Alex asked.  “Something like that could be worth billions, not to mention that whoever had it would be very powerful.  We know Lex had weapons that were capable of doing destruction on a massive scale.  Maybe this is just another one of those weapons that they managed to keep hidden.  Or maybe this is something new that Lillian has been developing.  Either way, it can’t be good.  Whether it’s in a Luthor’s hands or anyone else’s.  We need to find those weapons and soon.”

“Maybe I can help,” Kara said.

Alex sighed again, closing her eyes.  “I knew you were going to say that.  And I know I can’t stop you from being Supergirl, but I want you to be careful.  And I mean it.  If those weapons could vaporize a person, who knows what they’re also capable of.  That includes what they’re capable of doing to you.  I know you may be bulletproof, but these things don’t use bullets.”

“I’ll be careful,” Kara agreed.  “But I am going to help.  I have to.  I don’t want anyone else to go.”

“Then you can help,” Alex replied.  “After school.”

Kara groaned.  “Can’t you write me a note?  Something about trying to save the world?

“Very funny,” Alex replied.

“I’m serious,” Kara said.  “Okay, not about the saving the world part, but you could say I was sick or something.”

Alex shook her head.  “School first.”

“Fine,” Kara said with a huff.  “But if bad things happen because I’m at school, I am going to blame you.”

Alex rolled her eyes.  “Don’t be so dramatic.  Something tells me they’ll lay low for a bit.  They have to know we’re looking for them right now, so if they were smart, they’d leave the city.  Most likely, though, they’re holed up somewhere.  We have a whole team searching the web for any chatter.  It’s probably our best bet right now since we can’t exactly search every square inch of National City.  Now, come on; you’re going to be late.”

“Are you sure I have to go?” Kara asked, giving her sister her best puppy dog look.

“I’m sure,” Alex replied.  “But nice try, though.  A+ for effort.”

* * *

 

“You’re still coming, right?” Kara asked before taking a bite of her hamburger.

“You’ve asked me, like, three times,” Winn replied.  “Yes, I’m coming.”

“Um, what are you two talking about?” James asked.

“Thanksgiving dinner next week,” Kara answered.  “Eliza called Alex and said she’s coming, so now Alex is on a warpath to make sure everything is perfect, which means she needs to know how many people are coming.  Alex is going all out this year because she thinks our mother is mad at her for—something.”

“Something?” James asked.

“She hasn’t really told me what,” Kara said, waving her hand as if it was nothing.  “I just know Alex thinks she’s going to be disappointed in her or something, and she seems to think that making the perfect Thanksgiving dinner will somehow fix it.  Which is fine with me; as long as I get to eat, I’m happy.”

“Why aren’t you staying home?” Lucy asked Winn.

“Oh, my mom is working that day,” Winn replied.  “She usually has to, so I go over to the Danvers’.”

“My family always goes all out for Thanksgiving,” Kara added.  “Ever since they adopted me, they’ve made it into a big thing.  They always invite people who don’t have anywhere else to go.  There’s usually just as many friends as there are family members.  Although, this year, it seems like it’s going to be a slightly smaller gathering than usual.  Alex usually had a few friends over, but I don’t think she’s invited anyone this year.  I guess that just means more turkey for me.”

“You seem to talk about food an awful lot.”

Kara looked over her shoulder to find Lena there with a slight smile on her face and a friendly glint in her eyes.  Kara couldn’t help smiling back even though she was caught off-guard by Lena talking to her like they were almost friends.

“Oh, I was just talking about Thanksgiving,” Kara said.  “I was making sure Winn was coming because my sister’s going all out since our mom is coming.”

Lena nodded.  “Must be nice to have people to celebrate it with.”

“Do you—do you not have anywhere to go?” Kara asked.

Lena shrugged.  “It’s usually just like any other day for me.”

“Hey!” Kara called out as Lena started to talk away.  “Why don’t you join us?  I was just saying that we usually have more people over.  We always invite our friends who have nothing else to do, and Winn is going to be there, so it won’t just be my family.”

“Come to your place for Thanksgiving?” Lena said.

Kara shrugged her shoulders.  “Yeah.  I mean, if you want to.”

“Okay,” Lena said with a nod.  “Sure.”

“Great!” Kara replied. “I’ll let you know the address.  Alex is still working on the time since we don’t know when our mom’s coming in, but I should know by Monday.”

“Sounds good,” Lena said, giving her another smile.

“I hate to wipe that smile off your face, but Alex is going to kill you,” Winn said as Lena walked away.  “You know that, right?”

“Alex and I have an understanding,” Kara replied.

Winn snorted.  “Right.”

“So why is your sister going to kill you for inviting her?” Lucy asked, pointing after Lena.  “You just said you guys usually invite people who have nowhere else to go.”

“My sister,” Kara sighed, “she doesn’t really trust the Luthors.”

“Well, she’s not the only one,” Lucy replied.  “My father isn’t the biggest fan, either.  Lena seems okay, but my sister said that Lex did, too.  But we all know what happened with him.”

“Well, until I see differently, I give people the benefit of the doubt,” Kara said.  “My sister is just going to have to accept that.  If it was anyone else, she wouldn’t bat an eye, so she can deal.”

“Is that what you’re going to tell her?” Winn asked, looking amused.

“No,” Kara quietly said, shaking her head.

Winn laughed.  “I didn’t think so.  Your sister’s a little too scary for that.”

“Alex is not scary,” Kara replied.  “She’s just—stubborn and intimidating, and—okay, she can seem a little scary, but really she’s a complete softy if you play it right.”

“If you say so,” Winn said.

Kara looked over at James and Lucy.  “Do you both already have plans, because if your families aren’t doing anything, you’re more than welcome as well.”

“We’re going Metropolis to see my sister,” Lucy answered.

“All my family’s coming here this year, so we’re planning a big dinner,” James said.  “But thanks for the invite.  It’s nice of you.”

“Well, if anything changes for either of you just let me know,” Kara replied.  “Alex may freak out a little bit if it’s last minute, but I know our mom won’t care.”

“I think Alex is going to be freaking out regardless once she knows Lena’s coming,” Winn mumbled.

Kara frowned.  “Hush.”

* * *

 

“Kara, what’s going on?” Alex asked, sounding worried.

“Just fighting an alien,” Kara answered, dodging a punch, and then flying up when the alien sent a lightning bolt toward her.

“Where are you?” Alex asked.

“In Madison Park,” Kara said.

“I’m sending a team there right now,” Alex said.

“You may want to hold off,” Kara replied.  “This thing can shoot lightning out of its hands.” Kara dodged another attack and then tried to hit it with her heat vision but the alien vanished into thin air. “Oh crap. And it can turn invisible.”

“Invisible?” Alex asked.  “That’s new.”

“You’re telling me,” Kara said, looking around for it.

A shock went through Kara and she felt from the sky, hitting the ground so hard that it cracked the sidewalk beneath her.  As she lay there, she looked to the side and saw the blades of grass moving as if something was crushing them beneath its feet.

“Alex?” Kara said.

“Yes?” Alex replied.

Kara shot her heat vision at the seemingly empty area, and the alien suddenly came into view.  While it was knocked back from the attack, Kara grabbed the broken lamp post that was lying beside her and flew around the alien at top speed, wrapping the metal post around its arms.

“Make sure you have a cell open,” Kara answered.  “I’m going to bring it in.”

The alien once again turned invisible, but the lamp post wrapped around it did not.  Kara flew into the air, wrapping her hand around the post, and taking off.  As she flew across the city, the alien struggled as it tried to wriggle free, but Kara kept flying until she was dropping down into DEO headquarters, where the alien fell to the ground with a resounding thud.

“Be careful,” Kara said when several agents rushed over.  “It shoots lightning from its hands and it can turn invisible.”

Alex walked over with her hands on her hips.  “Nice improvisation.”

“I was afraid if we kept fighting that people would get hurt,” Kara said with a shrug.  “It was shooting lightning all over the place and was doing something funny with the sky. I think it may be able to control the weather.”

Alex’s eyebrows rose.  “Fisher, Ryan, go with Gates and Manning.”

“So, have you had any luck on the Luthor Corp break in?” Kara asked.

“Not yet,” Alex said.  “Although we have been looking into a few leads.”

“Anything I can help with?” Kara asked.

Alex shook her head.  “No, and I need you to promise that you will stay out of it.”

“But—”

“I’m serious,” Alex interrupted.  “We’re looking into the possibility that the person who shot you may be involved in the break in.  The needle that was stuck in you was made from a substance that came from your planet.”

“Kryptonite,” Kara said.

“Yes,” Alex confirmed.  “Whoever shot you knows you’re vulnerable to it.  They obviously didn’t want to kill you, though, or I’m sure they would have done more than just coated the needle in it.  We know Lex had some, but it disappeared before his house and business were raided.    I told you I think the break in could have been an inside job, so it’s possible all of this is tied together.  I may be wrong, but it’s something we’re looking into.  That’s why I want you to stay out of it for now.  These people may want you, so I don’t want you going looking for them, okay?”

Kara sighed.  “Alright.”

“Thank you,” Alex replied.  “I know you want to help, but I think it’s best for everyone if you keep your distance from it.”

“I guess I’ll just keep beating up aliens, then,” Kara remarked.  “Oh, and you may want to send a cleanup crew to the park.  That thing did some damage.”

“They’re already on their way,” Alex replied.  “I sent them as soon as you told me where it was.”

“Okay, well, I’ll be at home unless I’m needed somewhere,” Kara said.  “Will you keep me updated on everything? I want to know even if I’m not going out there looking for these guys.”

“I promise to keep you updated if you promise to not rush in the moment we find something,” Alex replied.

“Deal.  Oh, I forgot to mention earlier, but I invited someone else to Thanksgiving dinner,” Kara said, backing toward the exit.

“That’s fine,” Alex replied.  “Who did you invite?”

“Lena,” Kara answered before flying off.

“Kara!”

Kara heard her sister call her, but she pretended not to.  She knew Alex wasn’t going to be happy about inviting Lena, but she hoped her sister would calm down about it by the time she got home.”

* * *

 

“Okay, you and I need to talk,” Alex called out the moment she walked.

Kara groaned as she walked out of her bedroom.  “I already know what you’re going to say.”

“Maybe, but you’re still going to hear it,” Alex replied.  “You invited Lena Luthor to Thanksgiving dinner?  I get that you like her for some reason, but don’t you think this is taking it a little too far?”

“She didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Kara said.  “She was going to be alone on Thanksgiving.  No one should have to be alone on Thanksgiving!

Alex sighed.  “Kara—”

“I thought you were going to try to give her a chance,” Kara said, interrupting her sister.  “I’m not saying you have to like her, but will you at least try to make her feel welcome?  I know Lex was bad, but she’s not her brother.  They don’t even share the same DNA, and even if they did, it still doesn’t mean she would be like him.”

“We’ve had this conversation before,” Alex replied.

“I know, but you’re still punishing her for something her brother did,” Kara said.  “Lena’s done nothing wrong.”

“That you know of,” Alex remarked before sighing and throwing her arms out.  “Fine, but just know that I don’t like it.”

“Does that mean she can come?” Kara asked.

“I don’t see how I can stop it since you’ve already asked her,” Alex replied.

“It _would_ be rude to uninvite her,” Kara said, trying not to smile.

“Okay, you stop that,” Alex said, pointing at Kara.  “This is not you winning.  You did not win.”

Kara’s smile grew.  “Once you figure out when dinner is going to be, can you let me know?  I told Lena I’d let her know.”

“God, what is mom going to say?” Alex said, shaking her head.  “You know she’s going to blame me for all of this.”

“She isn’t going to blame you for anything,” Kara replied.

Alex gave her a look that said she was crazy.  “She left me in charge of you and in the past few months you’ve exposed yourself to the world, you’ve been flying the city in a cape, and you’ve befriended a Luthor.  Mom is going to kill me.  You have to know that.”

“Well, then, she needs to accept that I’m an adult now and I’m capable of making my own decisions,” Kara said, putting her hands on her hips.

“You know that’s never going to happen, right?” Alex replied.  “I’m pretty sure she still thinks of me as a twelve year old.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Kara said.

“Really?” Alex asked.  “Then why do I feel like she’s going to ground me when she gets here?”

“I have your back,” Kara said, giving her sister what she hoped was a reassuring smile.  “If she tried to put any of this on you, I’ll tell her it was entirely my fault.  You didn’t know what I was going to do and you couldn’t have stopped me.”

Alex sighed.  “Please tell me you didn’t eat all the ice cream.  I’m in desperate need of it right now.”

“Yes, I saved you some,” Kara said.

“Thank god,” Alex replied as she walked toward the refrigerator.

“So, what kept you at work?” Kara asked.  “I seriously thought you would just follow me straight home.”

“Well, I would have, but the cleanup team ran into a little trouble with the local police,” Alex replied, opening the door, and pulling out a carton of chocolate ice cream.  “That detective was there again.  You know, the one that was at the school.  She just keeps showing up and doesn’t like taking no for an answer.  She also showed up at Luthor Corp just after I got there, and I have no idea how she found out about it so quickly.  And then when I was following up on a lead, there she was again!  She’s so frustrating.”

“I’m sure she’s just doing her job,” Kara said, watching as her sister set the ice cream down on the counter with more force than necessary.

“I get that, but she doesn’t have to be so smug about it,” Alex replied.

“Why don’t we watch a movie,” Kara said.  “You can even pick since you’ve had such a hard day.”

“Any movie?” Alex asked, grabbing a spoon from the drawer.

“Any movie,” Kara replied.

“Fine, but you’re not allowed to complain,” Alex said, pointing at her with the spoon in her hand.

“You’re going to make me watch Austin Powers again, aren’t you?” Kara asked.

Alex smiled.  “Well, you did say any movie.”

Kara groaned.  “Any movie but that.”

* * *

 

“You know, I’m all for humans and aliens working together, but not like this.” Kara said as she hovered in the air.

The two had taken hostages after a robbery had gone wrong.  They had led the police on a high speed chase with the hostages in the backseat, but Kara had quickly put a stop to it.  Unfortunately, before she could completely subdue the two, they’d run.  Which seemed a little ridiculous when she not only had super speed, but could fly.

“You should turn yourself in before you hurt someone,” Kara said, though she knew it was unlikely.

The man on the right—or at least she’d thought it was a man—suddenly fell to his knees and she could see his skin shifting beneath his clothes.  Kara frowned as she watched the man seem to grow, his body contorting until it didn’t resemble a human at all.

“Okay, so I was wrong about the whole human thing,” Kara said when the alien stood up straight, it’s long arms ending in sharp claws that were dripping with an orange substance.  “Just don’t hurt any of these people.”

The newly transformed alien roared and swiped at Kara while the other one began running.  She dodged the alien’s attack and then looked over at the other one but knew she couldn’t pursue it.  There were too many civilians around, and the one in front of her certainly seemed like the more dangerous of the two.

“Alex, there’s an alien heading west on seventh,” Kara said.  “He’s wearing a ski mask and has purple skin.  You probably can’t miss him.”

“I have four agents heading in that direction,” Alex replied.  “Do you have eyes on the other one?”

“Yes, and he’s currently about seven feet tall,” Kara said as she flew around the alien, using her heat vision to knock down a pole to stop it from advancing on the bystanders.

When the alien turned around, Kara flew at him, throwing him back into the nearest building.  The impact cracked the side of the building and the alien hit the ground, lying motionless on the pavement.  After landing on the ground, Kara carefully walked toward it, prepared for it to get up at any moment, but it continue to lie there.

“Well, that was easier than I thought it was going to be,” Kara said.  “We’re in front of the Thai restaurant.  You know, the one with the good curry.”

“We’re on our way,” Alex replied.

Kara turned to make sure everyone was far enough away in case the alien did suddenly come to, but she froze as one person came running toward her.

“Lena, what are you doing here?” Kara asked.

“I was across the street and I saw you fighting that thing,” Lena replied.  “Are you okay?”

Kara opened and closed her mouth several times and her brows furrowed together.  “Were you worried about me?”

“Well, that thing doesn’t look the most friendly,” Lena replied.  “In fact, its claws look like they could rip someone to shreds.  Even Supergirl.”

“I’m fine,” Kara said.  “I can handle myself.”

Lena hummed.  “So I’ve noticed.”

“I should probably get this alien out of here,” Kara said, looking over her shoulder.

Lena nodded.  “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Alex, I’m going to bring it to you,” Kara mumbled so Lena couldn’t hear her.

She didn’t want Lena seeing Alex there since she figured it would bring up too many questions.  She could sort of explain what she’d been at the school after the bombing, but it would be a little more difficult to explain her leading a group of agents around.

“I thought we were coming to you,” Alex said.

“Change of plans,” Kara replied as she grabbed the alien and began flying upwards.  “Le—”

Kara let out a yell of pain and she could no longer hold onto the alien.  It dropped to the sidewalk below and Kara fell backward, landing only a few feet from it.  When she looked up, it was as if there was a yellow aura around her that was being sucked out of her body and straight into a large ray gun being held by one of the men she thought was just a bystander.

When it stopped, Kara’s head fell back and she groaned in pain.  Her whole body felt like it had been through the wringer, and when she tried to stand, she fell to the side.  Before she hit the ground, though, a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, steadying her.

“I’ve got you,” Lena said.

“Get to safety,” Kara ordered, but Lena didn’t move.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lena replied.

“Where did he go?” Kara asked, looking around.

“He jumped in van and took off,” Lena answered.

“I—”

“Easy.” Lena said when Kara tried to take a step but was too shaky to do so.

“What did that thing do to you?” Lena asked.

Kara shook her head.  “I don’t know.  I don’t ever remember feeling like this before.”

“We should really do something about that gash on your head,” Lena said, looking at her in concern.

“The what?” Kara asked.

“Your head,” Lena replied.  “You’re bleeding.”

Kara frowned and touched her forehead, and when she pulled her hand away, there was blood on her fingertips.  “Well, that’s never happened before.”


	10. Anytime

“Ow,” Kara said, flinching when she was stuck with a needle. “Be careful.”

“I told you it may sting,” Alex said.

“That’s more than a sting,” Kara argued.

Alex sighed. “Are you going to be like this all evening?”

Kara frowned and rubbed her arm. “I hope not. Because that means this will have lasted all evening.”

“Just lie there and try to relax,” Alex instructed.

“It’s hard to relax when my powers are gone,” Kara replied.

“I know, but I’m sure it’s only temporary,” Alex said. “I’m waiting on a few results to be sure, but—”

“But what?” Kara interrupted. “What do you think happened?”

“I think whatever that man used on you—I think it was made to eliminate your powers,” Alex said. “Although, I don’t believe it’s permanent. You get your powers from our sun, and I think that thing drained you of all the energy you’ve absorbed. Right now, you’re like a drained battery and you need to recharge.”

“Can something even do that?” Kara asked. “Take my energy like that?”

“Yesterday I would have said no, but now I’m beginning to think otherwise,” Alex replied. “These lights mimic the sun, so I’m hoping it’ll be enough for your powers to return. I imagine the actual sun is better, but since it’s dark out right now, that isn’t really a possibility.”

“The man who did this—he had to know I was going to be there,” Kara said.

“I agree,” Alex replied. “That’s why we’re interrogating the two we brought in. Either they lured you there or it was just a coincidence, and I don’t really believe in coincidences.”

Kara looked around at the lights that were surrounding her. She hated feeling confined, but she trusted that Alex knew what she was doing, so she tried to remain still.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked, seeming to sense her discomfort.

“Yeah, I just,” Kara sighed, “feel a little trapped.”

“I know,” Alex said, taking her hand, and squeezing it. “But the closer the lights are, the faster it’ll work. Hopefully. At least that’s the plan.”

Kara nodded. She knew Alex was aware of her slight claustrophobia, so she wouldn’t put her in there if she didn’t believe it was for the best. Tight spaces just always made her think back to being stuck in her pod even though she’d been asleep during most of the time. It had been a bigger problem when she was younger, but Kara had slowly been getting a little better about it. She’d been fine in the school when it had caved in around them and they’d been confined to a small area. Maybe it was just worse now because she was already feeling vulnerable thanks to her powers being gone.

“I just got the labs back,” Alex said, looking at something on her tablet. “It appears to be like we thought. That device drained you of your energy and that’s why you’re essentially like any human. You said it was like it was pulling a yellow light out from you. It literally drained your energy from you. How, I don’t know, but I have my suspicious about where the technology came from.”

“You think it was something stolen from Luthor Corp,” Kara said.

“Yes,” Alex replied. “I think it was probably something Lex was developing. Maybe it was already done when he was captured, or maybe his mom completed the project. But I do think it had a very specific purpose. It was made to weaken Kryptonians. It was probably meant to be used on Clark, but now you’re here, so things changed.”

Kara took a deep breath and slowly released it as she felt the sting of tears in her eyes.

“It’s going to be okay,” Alex said, rubbing Kara’s shoulder. “This is only temporary. You just need to be a little extra careful for the next few days, but we’ll make it through this. Before you know it, everything will be back to normal. I promise.”

* * *

 

Kara groaned as she sat up in bed. She’d never noticed how lumpy her bed was until she had to sleep in it without her powers. She’d barely slept, and the sleep she did get was restless. Not only could she not get comfortable, but she kept having nightmares about not being able to save the people she loved most.

Kara let out another groan as she stood from the bed. When she stretched, it felt like every joint in her body popped and she gasped at the sharp pain in her side. Pulling up her shirt, she walked over to the mirror, where she saw a large bruise covering her side, along with several others on her back from where she had fallen.

“Ow,” Kara said, putting her hand over the bruise with a frown.

Kara turned and grabbed a sweatshirt, gently pulling it over her head before padding out of her room. When she walked through the door, Alex looked up from where she was standing in the kitchen, a concerned frown instantly appearing on her face.

“Are you okay?” Alex asked.

“I hurt all over,” Kara said, knowing she sounded a little whiny but not caring. “That bed is terrible. My back hurts, I can barely turn my neck to the right, and I’m bruised all over from falling to the ground yesterday.” Kara rubbed her arm, frowning. “And it hurts where you took my blood. Is this how you always feel after a fight? Because I don’t know how you do it if it is.”

“Welcome to being human,” Alex replied. “Or at least as close as you’re going to get to it. And to answer your questions, sometimes. But I usually try to avoid being hit, whereas you’ve never really cared very much since you didn’t have to. You rely on your powers, which is fine until something like this happens.”

Kara groaned again as she sat down at the island. “Next time I’ll remember to be standing on the ground when I lose my powers.”

“Do you want to take something for it?” Alex asked.

“No, I’ll just deal with it,” Kara said, putting her head down.

“Are you sure?” Alex asked. “Because you’re supposed to help me make Thanksgiving dinner today. And powers or no powers, you are not getting out of it.”

“How did I forget that it’s Thanksgiving?” Kara mumbled.

“I don’t know, but mom will be here in just a few hours, so if you could somehow keep this whole thing to yourself, that would be great,” Alex said.

“You want me to lie about it?” Kara asked.

“Not lie,” Alex replied. “Just don’t bring it up. If it comes up, fine, but you don’t have to actively tell her. She’s already worried enough about you and she’ll freak if she finds out you’ve lost your powers. Even if it is only temporary.” Alex leaned against the counter, and Kara looked up at her. “Have you talked to Clark yet?”

Kara shook her head. “I don’t want him to worry about me. I don’t want him to think I can’t handle myself.”

“He’s not going to think that,” Alex said. “This may have happened to him before, too. You can’t know if you don’t ask him.”

“It’s fine,” Kara replied. “I’ll be fine. And don’t you dare call him about this.”

“I don’t understand,” Alex said, shaking her head.

“I don’t want to be a burden on him,” Kara replied.

“Why would you—” Alex tilted her head, her eyes suddenly showing understanding. “Kara—”

“What?” Kara asked. “He left me with the Danvers for a reason.”

“Yeah, because he wanted you to have a more normal family life than he could give you, not because he thought of you as a burden,” Alex replied.

“Just don’t tell him, okay?” Kara asked.

Alex sighed. “I won’t tell him anything you don’t want me to. But I still think _you_ should talk to him. If anyone can sympathize with what you’re going through, it’s going to be him.”

“My powers will be back before we know it, right?” Kara said. “Why worry anyone.”

“Fine, I’ll drop it,” Alex replied. “Are you hungry?”

Kara frowned. “A little. Huh, this is weird. I’m actually not that hungry.”

“That’s a first,” Alex teased. “And here I got a twenty pound turkey because I thought you alone would eat half of it. Speaking of which, I need to hurry if I’m going to get it in the oven in time.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” Kara asked.

“Just make sure the living room is tidied up,” Alex said. “Mom will be here in a few hours.”

“Didn’t you put everything away just last night?” Kara asked. “Who could possibly have come in here and made a mess while we slept?”

“Just double check.” Alex replied.

“Do you think maybe I should take a walk after?” Kara asked. “I thought it may do me some good to get a little sun.”

“Yeah, of course,” Alex replied. “The faster you get your powers back, the better. Maybe you’ll even get them before mom comes back and she’ll never realize anything was wrong.”

* * *

 

“Remember to act like everything is normal,” Alex instructed. “Everything is fine. You didn’t get your powers sucked out of you while you were fighting an alien.”

“I told you, I won’t tell her unless she asks,” Kara replied.

“She’s not going to ask,” Alex said.

“Then you have nothing to worry about,” Kara replied.

There was a knock on the door and Alex closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath. When she opened them, she nodded her head to herself, and opened the front door, where their mom was standing with a smile on her face.

“My girls,” Eliza said, pulling Alex into a hug.

“Hi, mom,” Alex replied, hugging her back.

“Kara,” Eliza said, turning to her once she released Alex.

Kara smiled and walked into the older woman’s open arms. While they did occasionally talk on the phone and even over Skype, she hadn’t seen her in person since early in the summer.

“How are my girls?” Eliza asked, giving Kara one last squeeze, which caused her to flinch and Eliza to pull back. “What was that?”

“What was what?” Kara asked, putting on a smile.

Eliza narrowed her eyes. “You just acted as if that hurt you, but that can’t be possible, right?”

“Oh, I uh—” Kara glanced at Alex.

Alex sighed, her shoulders visibly slumping. “Kara had a bit of an accident yesterday.”

“What kind of accident?” Eliza asked, putting her hands on her hips.

“She may have sort of temporarily lost her powers,” Alex answered.

Eliza’s mouth dropped and she looked between Alex and Kara for a moment before asking, “How is that even possible?”

“Well, I was sort of fighting this alien and I had him. I knocked him out even though he somehow grew to be huge, but then this guy kind of shot me with this big ray gun or something and it drained the energy out of me.” Kara threw her hands out, shrugging. “It’s only temporary, though, or at least we assume it is. I’ll be back to myself in no time, so you don’t have to worry about me. I’m just a little sore from the fight since I was flying when I got hit by the thing and ended up falling a bit. But it’s fine. I’m fine!”

“This is exactly the type of thing I was worried would happen,” Eliza said, looking at Alex. “This is why I asked you to look out for your sister. This is why we didn’t want her revealing her powers to the whole world. We knew people would try to hurt her; people who don’t understand or even people who want her for themselves to do their bidding.”

“It’s not Alex’s fault,” Kara replied before her sister could. “She didn’t know I was going to do what I did. She couldn’t have stopped me if she wanted to. And believe me when I tell you she wanted to stop me. She tried to talk me out of ever doing it again, but I didn’t listen. I wanted to help people even if it meant disappointing you and her. I know you’re both only looking out for me, but I just couldn’t live like that anymore. I was tired of hiding from the world. I was tired of letting bad things happen when I knew I could stop them. I couldn’t live with myself if I kept doing it; not when people already knew I existed. So please stop blaming Alex. It’s not her fault; it’s only mine.”

“You know I only want what’s best for you,” Eliza said.

“I know, and I think this is what’s best,” Kara replied. “I feel like this is what I was meant to do. I have to believe that there’s a reason I’m here and have these powers. Or at least usually have powers. I know you and Alex are worried, but I’m an adult now. I have to start making my own decisions some time and I also have to start living my life the way I want to.”

Eliza sighed. “I know. I was just hoping we could keep you out of danger a little longer.”

“I’ll be okay,” Kara said, wrapping her arms around her mom again. “I promise. Plus, I still have Alex looking out for me. She won’t let anything really bad happen to me.”

“I hope you’re right,” Eliza replied.

* * *

 

“So, your powers are just completely gone right now?” Winn whispered.

Kara nodded. “You still can’t see the cut on my forehead, can you? I covered it with makeup this morning.”

Winn tilted his head back and forth. “No, you’re good.”

“Good,” Kara replied. “Lena was there yesterday when it happened and I’m afraid she’ll put two and two together if I suddenly have the same gash on my forehead that Supergirl had.”

“Wait, Lena was there?” Winn asked.

“She was at a restaurant or something and saw the fight, so she came over to check on me,” Kara said. “This was before I got zapped by that thing.”

“Winn, hello,” Eliza said as she walked out of Alex’s bedroom, where she was going to be sleeping while she was there.

“Hi, Mrs. Danvers,” Winn said with a wave.

There was knock on the door and Kara looked over her shoulder. She knew they were only expecting one person and that it had to be Lena. Unfortunately, Eliza was standing right there and she was a little afraid of how she was going to react to Lena Luthor being at their Thanksgiving dinner.

“Um, Winn, can you distract my mom for a few minutes?” Kara whispered. “That has to be Lena.”

“How am I supposed to do that?” Winn whispered back. “And why?”

“Because I want to give her at least a few seconds to relax before Alex and Eliza make her feel totally uncomfortable,” Kara replied.

“So, Mrs. Danvers—”

Kara whispered a thank you and waited for Winn to lead her mom toward the living room before opening the door. As expected, Lena was on the other side of the door with a friendly smile on her face.

“Lena, hi,” Kara said. “I’m so glad you could make it.”

“Yes, well, this is certainly the best offer I’ve had in a while,” Lena said, walking in when Kara stepped to the side and motioned her in. “For the past two years our doorman has taken pity on me and brought me a plate from his family’s dinner.”

“That’s—” Kara frowned. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s nothing,” Lena said, waving her off. “It’s not the first holiday I’ve spent alone and I doubt it will be the last. My family’s never really been big on celebrating with family.”

“Well, I’m glad you came,” Kara replied, giving her a smile.

“Oh, I didn’t know someone else was joining us,” Eliza said from Kara. “Is this another friend of yours from school?”

“Um, yes, we go to school together,” Kara answered. “I found out she didn’t have any other plans, so I thought I’d invite her. This—this is Lena.”

Eliza opened her mouth and Kara saw the recognition flash in her eyes.

“Lena, this is my mom, Eliza Danvers,” Kara said.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Lena said, holding her hand out.

“You too, dear,” Eliza replied. “I should go see if Alex needs a hand setting the table.”

“Actually it’s already done,” Alex said as she walked up to the group.

“Alex, you remember Lena,” Kara said. “Lena, this is my sister Alex. I don’t know if you were ever formally introduced.”

“No, I don’t believe so,” Lena replied.

“This isn’t awkward,” Winn mumbled just loud enough for Kara to hear.

“Is dinner almost ready?” Kara asked a little louder than necessary. “Because I’m starving.”

“The turkey’s resting,” Alex said, giving her a look that said she knew exactly what Kara was doing. “It should be ready to eat in about fifteen minutes.”

“Good—that’s good,” Kara replied. “It smells fantastic.”

“Why don’t you help me bring everything to the table?” Alex asked Eliza.

“Actually, why don’t I help with that?” Winn suggested.

As Winn walked off, Kara glared at the back of his head for a moment before Lena looked her way and she plastered a smile on her face again.

“Why don’t we go in the living room while they get everything ready?” Eliza suggested.

“Yes, let’s go sit!” Kara said.

Lena looked at her, raising her eyebrow slightly, and when she turned away, Kara shook her head at herself. When she looked toward the kitchen, Alex was also shaking her head while Winn looked almost worried and slightly embarrassed.

“So, Lena, I wasn’t aware you and my daughter were friends,” Eliza said as she took a seat.

“Oh, well, I don’t know if I would say Kara and I were friends,” Lena replied, sitting across from the older Danvers. “We sort of just recently started talking.”

Eliza nodded. “I just assumed since you’re here.”

“We’re not exactly friends, but we have classes together. I guess you can say we’re acquaintances,” Kara said, sitting on the arm of the chair. “Recent ones. I guess it’s hard not to bond a little when you’re trapped in a small area together for hours.” She gave a nervous laugh.

“You were trapped in the school together?” Eliza asked. “You didn’t mention that.”

“It wasn’t just us,” Kara quickly said, pointing over her shoulder. “Winn was there, too, and James and Lucy, who you haven’t met, but they’re nice.”

“Interesting,” Eliza replied, looking between the two.

“Alex, is dinner ready yet?” Kara called over her shoulder.

“Yes, dinner is ready,” Alex answered.

Kara jumped up and waited for the other two to stand. As they did so, Kara turned around and mouthed a thanks to her sister, whose only response to give her a look that clearly said she told her so.

* * *

 

“That was, um—let’s never do that again, okay?” Winn said as soon as Kara closed her bedroom door.

“I am so sorry, you guys,” Kara said

“It’s fine,” Lena replied. “I’m used to awkward family dinners.”

“But _that_ awkward?” Winn asked. “That was, like, next level awkward.”

“It was probably my fault,” Lena said.

“What? No,” Kara quickly replied.

“It’s alright,” Lena said, shaking her head.

Kara furrowed her brows. “It’s really not just because of you. There’s been a lot going on and my mom isn’t happy with my sister over a few things and, yes, my mom wasn’t expecting you, but I promise that wasn’t the only reason it was weird.”

“Okay, so, I’m going to go before we have to go out there again and things turn weird,” Winn announced. “I’ll see you at school,” he turned to Kara, “and I’ll see you Saturday, right?”

Kara nodded. “I’ll be over as soon as my mom gets on her plane.”

“Great,” Winn replied. “Text me a little bit before you get there and I’ll have lunch on its way.”

“Thanks for coming,” Kara said, giving him a hug.

“Thanks for having me,” Winn replied. “Even if it was the most awkward Thanksgiving ever.”

Kara laughed and Winn slipped out of the room, leaving her alone with Lena.

“I really am sorry about all of this,” Kara said.

“It’s fine,” Lena replied. “Even this was better than a Luthor family dinner. Not that I’ve had one of those in a long time, but this actually wasn’t so bad.”

“My mom isn’t normally like this,” Kara said. “It’s just the first time she’s been here in a while and a lot of things have happened since then.”

“You don’t have to spare my feelings,” Lena replied.

“No, really,” Kara said. “I promise it wasn’t just about you. Things were weird even before you got here.”

Lena’s eyes drifted down, and before Kara knew what was happened, Lena had taken her hand and was taking a step forward.

“What happened?” Lena asked.

“Wh-what?” Kara stuttered out.

“Your arm,” Lena replied. “The bruises.”

“Oh, that,” Kara said. “I can be a bit of a klutz sometimes. I tripped down the stairs last night and I guess I hit my arm on the way down. It’s not as bad as it looks.”

“That’s good,” Lena replied. “Because it looks pretty bad.”

Lena let go of her hand and Kara let out a light sigh.

“I like your room,” Lena commented as she glanced around. “It’s homey. The complete opposite of mine.”

“You don’t like your room?” Kara asked.

Lena shrugged. “It’s fine, but there’s nothing really personalized about it. My mother hates clutter and has the maid throw away anything she doesn’t deem worthy.”

“Is that a nice way of saying my room is messy and yours isn’t?” Kara asked with a light smile.

Lena laughed. “I would prefer this room over mine any day.”

Lena walked over to Kara’s mirror, where there were quite a few pictures of her with Alex, a few of her and Winn, and one with the whole Danvers family before her adoptive father had died.

“That was taken the first time I ever saw the ocean,” Kara said when Lena ran her hand along the edge of a picture of Kara and Alex building a sandcastle. “It was the summer after the Danvers adopted me. I almost drowned and Alex had to save me.”

“What happened to your father?” Lena asked.

“He died a little over three years ago,” Kara said. “He was on a business trip when his plane went down.”

Lena turned around. “I’m sorry I brought it up. It must be painful.”

“You didn’t know,” Kara said, shrugging. “It happened just before we moved to National City. Really, not many people know. I think Winn and James are probably the only two.”

Lena hummed. “You’re lucky to have a friend like Winn.”

Kara smiled. “I agree.”

Lena smiled back for a moment before looking down. “I should probably go. If your mom is only here until Saturday, I imagine you’d like to spend some time with her.”

“Oh, it’s fine,” Kara replied. “And I think she and Alex have a few things they would like to discuss without me in the room.”

“Thank you for inviting me to dinner,” Lena said. “It’s the best Thanksgiving I’ve had in a while. Even if things were a little awkward.”

Kara smiled. “I’m happy you came.”

“I’ll see you Monday?” Lena said.

Kara nodded. “Of course.”

Lena shifted slightly but stopped and looked at Kara for a second. Kara wondered for a moment if Lena had changed her mind about leaving, but then Lena began walking again. Except instead of heading straight toward the door, Lena walked up to Kara and placed a light kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you again,” Lena said as she pulled away, biting her bottom lip.

Kara made a few unintelligible noises before finally saying, “Anytime.”


	11. Crashed and Burned

“Good news,” Kara said as she walked out of her room. “My powers are back.”

“That’s great,” Alex replied, looking up at her, and smiling. “However, we need to be sure. Maybe we’ll go out later and test a few things.”

“What do you—ah, yes,” Kara said, realizing that Alex wanted her to go to the DEO but couldn’t say it in front of their mom.

“In public?” Eliza asked.

“There’s a spot,” Alex answered. “It’s pretty secluded.”

“I still don’t know if that’s wise,” Eliza said.

“We’ll be careful,” Kara replied, walking over, and sitting down next to her mom at the island. “So, what’s for breakfast?”

“We were actually talking about going out for breakfast,” Alex said.

Kara jumped up with a smile. “Great! Let’s go!”

“But first,” Eliza took Kara’s hand and guided her back to the stool, “we need to talk about something.”

“Okay,” Kara said, frowning. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing is wrong exactly,” Eliza replied. “I’m just concerned about something. This friendship with Lena Luthor—”

Kara sighed. “Not this again. I’ve already had this talk with Alex multiple times.”

“She’s told me, but I’m your mom, so we get to have the talk, too,” Eliza stated. “I know you’ve always believed the best in people, honey, but sometimes that can get you in trouble, and I’m afraid this is going to be one of those times. Your sister is concerned about it as well.”

“How many times do I have to say that she’s not her brother?” Kara asked. “Lena is her own person and she’s done nothing to deserve this suspicion and hatred from people who don’t even know her. She deserves a chance and it’s terrible that you two aren’t willing to give it to her. I mean, how would you feel if you were in her position? Not only did your brother kill people, but everyone is just waiting for you to turn bad, too, when you’re absolutely nothing like him.”

“I understand, but you’re my daughter, and I can’t just sit back and say nothing if I see you about to fall off a cliff,” Eliza replied.

“Then I guess it’s a good thing falling off a cliff won’t hurt me,” Kara remarked.

“Kara,” Alex said, narrowing her eyes.

“What?” Kara asked. “None of this is fair. Not to me and certainly not to Lena.”

“I’m just worried because her kidnapping is what started this all,” Eliza said. “And then when I found out she was also at the school and when you were attacked just the other day, and it’s made me worry even more.”

“Wait,” Kara frowned, “You think Lena is somehow behind all of this.”

Eliza shook her head. “Behind it? No. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t assisting the person who is.”

“But she could have been killed at the school,” Kara said. “One of the reasons she wasn’t injured is because I shielded her. Who would take that kind of risk?”

“The Luthors have done worse,” Alex interjected.

“Do you agree with mom?” Kara asked, the anger clear in her voice.

“I don’t know,” Alex replied. “It all does seem a little suspicious. But I did tell you I would give her a chance and I am trying. I just can’t help being suspicious of anyone who comes into your life, especially with her family’s history.”

“Why do I feel like I keep having this same conversation?” Kara asked in frustration. “Can’t you just trust my judgment?”

“I’m sorry, but the consequences of you being wrong about her are too high,” Eliza replied. “I really think you should limit how much you see her.”

Kara glanced at Alex. She wondered if her sister had ratted her out and told their mom that she had a crush on Lena. If that was the case, though, she felt like her mom would have had an even stronger reaction than she already was.

“We both love and just want you to be safe,” Eliza added.

“Well you can stop worrying so much,” Kara replied.

“Does that mean you’re going to stay away from her?” Eliza asked.

Kara shook her head. “No, that just means I can take care of myself. I know you two only want what’s best for me, but I need to be able to make my own decisions.”

“Kara—”

“Let’s leave her alone,” Alex said, interrupting their mom. “She’s heard what we both have to say. Let’s just go out to breakfast.”

Kara doubted it was going to be the last she heard about it from Eliza, but she gave Alex a grateful smile, nonetheless.

* * *

 

“There you are,” Lena said, smiling, and leaning against the balcony while Kara hovered just on the other side. “I was wondering when you would come by.”

“I’ve had a lot going on over the past few days,” Kara replied.

Lena hummed and reached out, running her fingers across Kara’s forehead. “And how are you?”

“I-I’m great,” Kara replied.

“I’ve been worried,” Lena said. “First you were bleeding and then you were taken off by a bunch of agents. I was afraid something terrible had happened. Especially since you’d said you’d never bled before.”

“That was just a weird fluke thing,” Kara replied.

Lena’s eyebrow rose. “Really? Because it seemed like you lost your powers.”

“No,” Kara said, waving her off. “How could I lose my powers?”

“You tell me,” Lena replied, staring intently at her. “I’m going to assume it happened when that man shot you with that beam of light. That’s when you suddenly couldn’t fly anymore, you were clearly in pain, and you started bleeding. Am I getting close?”

Kara sighed. “I—”

“It’s okay,” Lena said when Kara stopped and looked away. “You don’t have to tell me. I just want to know you’re okay and that you already caught whoever it was so it can’t happen again.”

“I am okay,” Kara replied.

Lena nodded. “But the man is still out there.”

“Unfortunately,” Kara said. “But we’ll get him soon enough. He can’t take me by surprise like he did.”

“I hope not,” Lena replied. “I would hate for anything to happen to you.”

Lena gave her a smile and Kara was at a loss for words. Sometimes Lena just left her so flustered that she really didn’t know how to respond. And sometimes it wasn’t even what she said but how she said it. It wasn’t like Lena hadn’t flirted with her before—she had even admitted that’s what she was doing—but she didn’t know if she would ever get used to it.

“So, uh, did you have a good Thanksgiving?” Kara asked in an overly cheerful voice.

“Yeah, I did, actually,” Lena replied. “A—friend invited me.”

“A friend?” Kara asked.

Lena nodded. “A new friend. It was very nice of her to invite me to spend it with her and her family. It was the first holiday in a while where I didn’t feel completely alone.”

“That’s—well, I’m glad you had somewhere to go,” Kara replied. “Everyone should have somewhere to go for the holidays if that’s what they want.”

“Do you celebrate Thanksgiving?” Lena asked.

“I do, yes,” Kara answered.

“Can I ask you a question?” Lena asked.

“Um, yeah, sure,” Kara replied.

“How long have you been here?” Lena asked. “On Earth, that is. Have you been here for your whole life or did you just come recently?”

“Somewhere in between those two,” Kara said.

With Alex and Eliza’s voices in the back of her head, she was afraid to tell Lena exactly how long she’d been there. She didn’t exactly know how the knowledge could be dangerous if the wrong person found out, but she was trying to be vague when it came to telling people things about herself.

“So you at least partly grew up here, but you haven’t always been here?” Lena nodded. “Interesting.”

“Is it?” Kara asked.

Lena smiled. “I find most things about you interesting, so yes.”

“I’m really not that interesting,” Kara said, shaking her head. “I promise. You’re much more interesting than I am.”

Lena laughed. “Hardly, but I’ll take it is a compliment that you’re interested in me.”

A slight smirked appeared on Lena’s face and Kara looked down, trying not to let Lena see her blush. Kara didn’t refute Lena, though; she was interested in her and she wasn’t going to lie about it.

“You know, you don’t have to stay over there,” Lena said, drawing Kara’s attention back to her. “There is a whole balcony over here where you could land. As I said before, I don’t bite.”

Kara smiled. “I know, but I really should be going. After what happened, there are people in my life who worry.” Kara glanced away from Lena when she heard the elevator moving and used her x-ray vision. “Plus, your mother is coming up right now.”

Lena sighed. “You’re right, then; you should go.”

“It was nice seeing you again,” Kara said.

“Don’t be a stranger, okay?” Lena replied.

Kara nodded and started to turn, but stopped when Lena reached out for her. Kara turned to look at her again, her breath hitching when Lena leaned over the balcony and brought their lips together. It took Kara a moment to react and just as she began kissing Lena back, she heard the front door open. Lena apparently heard it too, because a second later she was pulling away.

“Sorry, but when I see something I want, sometimes I have trouble not going for it,” Lena said, running her thumb along Kara’s bottom lip.

“That’s alright,” Kara replied as a smile spread across her mouth.

“I’m glad you think so,” Lena said. “As much as I hate to say it, though, you really should get out of here before my mother sees you.”

Kara nodded. “Another time?”

“I look forward to it,” Lena replied.

* * *

 

Kara was still smiling when she landed on the balcony outside her apartment. She kept thinking over and over about the fact that Lena had kissed her, but it didn’t seem real. She’d never thought Lena would even notice her, let alone actually like her. And she certainly never thought Lena would kiss her.

“Kara!”

Kara jumped at Alex’s voice in her ear. “What? Why are you yelling?”

“Because I’ve been calling your name for the past minute,” Alex replied. “Is everything okay?”

“Yes, of course,” Kara said, shaking her head at herself. “I guess I was just lost in thought.”

“Well, I have some news and I thought you would to know it,” Alex said with a sigh.

“What is it?” Kara asked, not liking the resigned tone of her sister’s voice.

“We’ve confirmed that the tech that made you lose your powers did come from Luthor Corp,” Alex said. “Our guys finally got into Luthor Corp’s system and found the plans for the gun you described.”

Kara frowned. “Okay, so, it was like you thought it may be. It was probably something Lex had invented.”

“The date on them is after Lex was captured,” Alex said with another sigh. “Someone had been working on it pretty recently. We don’t know if the one you saw was just the prototype or if there’s more of them out there, but now they know that it works and if it was someone involved with the Luthors, they have the resources to make as many as they want.”

“Even if they are the ones who developed it, it doesn’t mean they were the ones who used it on me,” Kara reasoned.

“Either way you look at it, Luthor Corp is developing a way to weaken people like you, Kara,” Alex said. “We have proof of that now, and something tells me they aren’t doing it out of the goodness of their heart.” Alex paused for a moment. “I’m sorry, but that’s not all I wanted to tell you.”

“Okay,” Kara said, hating the hesitancy in her sister’s voice. “What is it?”

“We found some other files,” Alex said. “Information on not only your cousin but on you.”

“What sort of information?” Kara asked.

“Things they could only know if they’ve been watching you,” Alex replied. “They’ve been spying on you.”

“Do they know who I am?” Kara asked in a slight panic as she thought about the people she cared about being put in danger.

“No, they don’t seem to know that yet,” Alex replied. “But they do know you and Superman are cousins, which also means they know you’re from Krypton. And since Lex studied Superman for years, he knows his weaknesses. Your weaknesses.” Alex paused. “Are you still there?”

“Yes, I’m here,” Kara said.

“We know they’re planning something big, we just don’t know what it is yet,” Alex continued. “There’s a lot of files that the department is going through, so hopefully we’ll know more soon. Until then, you need to be extra careful. I know I’ve said it before, but this is really serious. There are people out there watching you, studying you. You cannot let them find out your identity or I have no doubt they will go after your friends and your family. It would be the easiest way to lure you into a trap because we all know you wouldn’t let anything happen, especially not to someone you care about.”

“Don’t worry,” Kara replied. “I know to be careful.”

“Good,” Alex said. “Where are you?”

“I’m at the apartment,” Kara answered. “I just got back.”

“Okay, well, mom called about thirty minutes ago and said she’d be there soon, so try to keep her busy,” Alex instructed. “And if she asks—”

“I’ll just tell her you’re at work,” Kara replied.

“I should be home in an hour or two,” Alex said.

Kara nodded to herself. “I’ll see you then.”

Kara felt numb as she stood there alone in her apartment. There were only a few people on Earth that knew for sure that she and Clark were cousins. And only one of them had any kind of affiliation with Luthor Corp.

* * *

 

Kara knew she would never hear the end of it if Alex knew she was going to Lena, but she didn’t care. After everything Alex had told her, she needed to go talk to Lena. She didn’t really know what good it would do, though; if Lena had been lying to her this whole time there was nothing to stop her from lying now. But yet Kara didn’t hesitate. She had taken off after some of the shock had worn off and hadn’t looked back.

Lena was in her bedroom when Kara stopped outside the penthouse. Thankfully Lillian Luthor was on the other side of the penthouse in her own bedroom. It was going to be hard enough talking to Lena without her mother overhearing them. Because even if everything was just a way for Lena to get information on Supergirl, Kara knew she wasn’t the mastermind behind everything. There was no doubt in her mind that it was either Lillian or even Lex orchestrating things from behind bars.

Lena’s drapes were slightly parted, and when Kara knocked, she could see Lena look toward the window and smile. It made Kara’s stomach feel like it was in knots. Did Lena look happy to see her because she really did want to see her or did she look happy because her plan was working? Kara wanted to believe there was nothing sinister in that smile, but she couldn’t help doubting things now and that hurt more than she cared to admit.

“I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Lena said after opening the window.

“Can I come in?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Lena said as she stepped to the side, and Kara climbed through the window and silently landed on the floor. “You don’t look very happy to be here. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, it is,” Kara replied, putting her hands on her hips, and turning to Lena.

“Okay,” Lena said, furrowing her brows.

“The people I work for have come across some information,” Kara stated. “The guy that shot me with that thing the other day—the weapon came from Luthor Corp. It was developed by them and one of the things that was stolen. Did you know?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know anything about it,” Lena said, shaking her head. “That stuff is top secret. Even to me. I mostly just sit in on meetings that my mother thinks are important.”

Kara sighed and began pacing around Lena’s bedroom. “Why would your company make such a weapon?”

“My mother’s company, and I have no idea,” Lena answered. “That’s the kind of thing Lex would have tried developing, though.”

“Well, this came about _after_ your brother was put away,” Kara replied.

Lena frowned and looked away. “Regardless, I know nothing about it. I’m sorry if you thought I did.”

“That’s not all,” Kara said. “These files also had other information. Information about me, and one of the things in there was that Superman and I are cousins. You are the only person I’ve told that. Or at least the only person that—”

“Is a Luthor?” Lena said for her.

“I know the other people who know would never tell,” Kara said. “Ever.”

“Well, I didn’t tell anyone,” Lena replied.

“Then how did they know?” Kara asked.

“I don’t know,” Lena said. “Maybe they guessed. You two do wear the same symbol. Most people assume you two are related.”

“Then why not think we’re siblings?” Kara asked. “All of this started when you were kidnapped, and—”

“Wait,” Lena said, holding her hand up. “Do you think I faked being kidnapped? That I faked armed men coming into Luthor Corp and dragging me out. To what? Trap someone I didn’t know even existed?”

Kara closed her eyes and sighed. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

Lena gave a hallow laugh and shook her head. “Why am I not surprised? Everyone else thinks I’m just like my brother. Soulless and manipulative and ready to destroy anyone who gets in my way. I just thought you were different.”

“I want to believe you,” Kara said.

“But you don’t,” Lena stated.

Kara looked down. She hated seeing that hurt look in Lena’s eyes. And maybe Kara was wrong. Maybe Lena had absolutely nothing to do with what was happening. But it was too hard to take a chance on Lena when it could put her loved ones lives in danger.

“I shouldn’t come over here anymore,” Kara said as she turned on her heel.

“Yeah, maybe not,” Lena replied.

* * *

 

“Hey, your mom let me—Jesus Christ.” Winn stopped in his tracks when he caught sight of Kara. “What is wrong with you? Did you not get your powers back yet? Are they gone forever?”

Kara shook her head and slowly looked up at her best friend. “No, they came back this morning.”

“Then why do you look like someone strangled a puppy?” Winn asked. “Oh god! No one strangled a puppy, did they? Because there’s evil and then there’s _that_.”

“No, no one strangled a puppy.” Kara frowned. “And no one better ever do that.”

“Then why the long face?” Winn asked.

Kara sighed. “I may have screwed up tonight. Or maybe I’m right. Maybe everyone is. Maybe I just didn’t see it because I didn’t want to. Everyone tells me I always want to see the best in people and maybe that’s the problem. I wasn’t seeing what was right in front of me, which makes all of this my fault!”

“Okay, hold up,” Winn said, holding up his hand. “First off, that is a lot of maybes. Second—I have no idea what you’re talking about, so you’re going to have to back up.”

“Luthor Corp developed the weapon that caused me to lose my powers,” Kara stated. “The DEO found files confirming it and also that it’s a more recent invention. One that’s happened since Lex was put away. Alex doesn’t think it was really stolen, but that it was an inside job to make it look like Luthor Corp had nothing to do with the attack on me.”

“So, you were talking about Lena, then?” Winn asked.

Kara nodded. “They had files on me. They knew things they shouldn’t know like the fact that Superman is my cousin. The only people who know that are him, his girlfriend, my mom, Alex, you, and Lena. I know my family would never tell anyone and I would trust you with my life, so that only leaves one option.”

Winn sighed. “That Lena told.”

“Exactly,” Kara replied.

“What if they just guessed?” Winn asked.

Kara shook her head. “If they were just guessing, they wouldn’t have been so certain about it. They know. Somehow they know and all signs point to Lena.”

Winn opened his mouth but closed it with a sigh before he walked over and sat next to Kara.

“I went over there and confronted her about it,” Kara said. “She denied it, of course. And she looked so hurt, but I don’t know if that’s because she really was hurt or if she’s just a great actress. Because she certainly fooled me about everything.” Kara shook her head as tears came to her eyes. “I really thought—”

“Thought what?” Winn asked.

Kara closed her eyes. “I really thought she liked me. But now I can’t help wondering that was all a lie. And to make it even worse, I was so happy tonight before I found out! She actually kissed me tonight. Do you know how long I’ve wanted to do that?”

“She kissed you?” Winn asked, his voice pitching.

“And then Alex told me what they’d found out,” Kara continued. “She told me and all my happiness went away. As soon as she told me they knew Clark was my cousin, it was like everything froze inside of me.”

“Clark?” Winn replied. “Are you talking about Clark Kent? He’s Superman?!”

“Winn,” Kara said with a sigh.

“Okay, sorry; we’ll save that for another time,” Winn replied.

Kara ran her hand through her hair and then leaned forward, putting her elbows on her knees. “Ever since I came Earth, I’ve felt very alone. My whole planet was gone and Clark was the only thing left from it, but he was barely around. I love my family here, but it’s still hard. I’ve never had many friends; I know I’ve always been a little weird. Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful for you. You’re my best friend and you’ve always made me feel welcome when others didn’t. But it was nice feeling like I was finally getting another friend. It made me finally feel a little less lonely. Because she knew my secret and she didn’t care that I wasn’t from here. And the fact that I thought she could become something more than a friend—something I’ve never thought before about anyone—just makes it hurt that much more.”

“Look, I don’t know Lena very well so I can’t really say one way or another if I think she was lying to you,” Winn replied. “What I can say is that I think you should listen to your own instincts. Don’t listen to what other people are telling you. Don’t let them doubt yourself and what you think.”

“But what if my instincts are wrong?” Kara asked, shaking her head. “I just feel like such an idiot right now. I shouldn’t have let my guard down.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Winn said when Kara leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. “Even if you’re wrong about her, you did what you thought was right. You gave her a second chance when most wouldn’t. And maybe she is just like her family, but maybe she isn’t. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding.”

“Maybe, but I don’t know if I can take that chance,” Kara replied. “I can’t put my mom and Alex and you in danger like that.”

“Well, I don’t exactly want to be put in danger, either,” Winn said.

“Exactly. That’s why I need to keep my distance from Lena,” Kara replied even though it pained her to say. “As both Supergirl and as Kara.”


	12. It's Okay

“I thought I might find you in here.”

Kara jumped at Lena’s sudden appearance. Normally she would have heard her coming, but she’d been so lost in thought that she hadn’t noticed her. It didn’t exactly surprise her, though. It had been happening a lot since Friday. She just couldn’t help thinking about everything that had happened since her kiss with Lena. And now Lena was standing there in front of her, and Kara’s mind was a complete blank.

“I noticed you weren’t in the cafeteria,” Lena continued. “And that you weren’t here at all yesterday. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I was sick yesterday,” Kara said, pushing up her glasses.

Lena hummed as she walked further into the room. “Well, you look like you’re better now.”

“It was a quick cold,” Kara lied. “One of those twenty-four hour things.”

Lena nodded. “Mind if I join you?”

“I—” Kara paused, her mouth hanging open for a moment. “You noticed I wasn’t in the cafeteria? You were looking for me?”

“Maybe,” Lena said.

Kara averted her eyes, staring down at the ground. A week ago, she would have loved to hear Lena had been looking for her, but now things were different. Now, she was supposed to stay away from Lena. She’d even promised herself she wouldn’t look at Lena, but it was easier said than done. Especially when Lena was actively seeking her out.

“I wanted to thank you again for inviting me to Thanksgiving dinner,” Lena said after a few moments.

“Oh, that’s—don’t mention it,” Kara replied.

“No, I mean it,” Lena said. “It meant a lot. Most people wouldn’t have done it.”

Kara didn’t know what to say. Not when Lena was looking at her the way she was. Sometimes she felt like Lena could see right through her when she looked at her with those intense eyes. She knew it was ridiculous, though; Lena was definitely human and humans certainly didn’t have that kind of ability. Yet it still didn’t stop Kara from wondering sometimes.

“So, how was the rest of your weekend?” Lena asked, her voice lightening a bit. “Did your mom get back safely?”

“I’ve had better,” Kara answered. “But, yes, my mom made it back just fine.”

Lena nodded. “Good. And I know what you mean about having had better. My weekend was going incredibly well, but that never lasts. I should know that by now, yet it somehow always comes as a surprise.” Lena sat down across from Kara and crossed her legs, clasping her hands together, and resting them on her knees. “It’s a shame, too. It started out so promising. Unfortunately, my mother seems to have a knack for ruining things. Although, I’m still not entirely sure how she’s done it this time, but I know it had to have been her and I’m going to do my best to prove it.”

“I-I should go,” Kara said, suddenly standing up. “I have to make up a pop quiz and I should really look over the chapter beforehand.”

It hadn’t entirely been a lie. Kara did have to make up a quiz from where she’d missed the day before. But the quiz wasn’t for another fifteen minutes and she already knew the material. She needed to get away from Lena, though. She needed space from her and that was impossible when she was sitting only a few feet from her.

“Did you forget about it?” Lena asked, her eyebrow rising.

“Not so much forgot, but lost track of time,” Kara lied.

“Well, then, I guess I’ll see you later,” Lena replied. “Good luck on your quiz.”

“Thanks,” Kara said before throwing her bag on her shoulder and quickly walking out of the room.

* * *

 

Kara was staring down at her desk but looked up when someone took the seat in front her. Instead of finding James, though, Kara found herself looking at Lena, who was far away from her usual seat.

“Good morning,” Lena greeted. “You look like you had a rough night.”

“Um, hi,” Kara replied, pushing her glasses up as they slipped down her nose.

“You don’t seem very excited to be here,” Lena commented.

“It’s been a long week,” Kara said, shaking her head.

“And it’s only Wednesday,” Lena replied, giving her a slight smile. “That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the week.”

Kara knew she sounded tired, but there was also wariness in her voice as well. If Lena picked up on it, she wasn’t saying anything. It really had been a long week, though. And it had been an especially long night for her. An alien had escaped from the DEO and Kara had been tracking it for most of the night. It had been nearly dawn before Alex’s team had finally found it—underneath the ocean, no less—and Kara had struggled to get it out and back to the DEO. By the time it was safely locked up, Kara had to quickly get ready for school to avoid being late.

“How was the quiz yesterday?” Lena asked.

Kara hummed, looking up at Lena. “Oh, that. It was fine. I was worried for nothing, which wouldn’t be the first time and I doubt it’ll be the last.”

Kara noticed James walk in. He locked eyes with her for a moment, his eyebrows shooting up and an amused smile appearing on his face when he looked between her and Lena. Kara sent him a slightly pleading look, hoping he would come over and claim his seat, but he walked to the seat Lena usually sat in instead, which caused Kara’s shoulders to slump. Obviously nothing was going to save her right now and she couldn’t exactly make up some excuse to leave this time. Not when class was going to start soon.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked, tilting her head to the side as she stared at Kara.

“Who? Me?” Kara said, plastering on a smile. “Of course. I’m totally great.”

Lena cocked her eyebrow. “Very convincing.”

“What?” Kara said in surprise. “No, really. I’m fine.”

Lena reached out, brushing her fingers against Kara’s hand, causing Kara’s breath to hitch.

“You don’t have to tell me what’s wrong,” Lena said. “But you’re not very hard to read. It’s obvious you’re not totally great.”

Kara pulled her hand away from Lena’s just enough so they were no longer touching. She noticed Lena’s eyes follow her hand for a moment before looking back up at her. Unlike Kara, who’d always been told by Alex that her face gave away everything she was thinking and feeling, Lena seemed to have no such problem. Her face was entirely neutral. The only reaction she really had at all was the slight increase in her heart rate, but Kara had no idea what that meant.

“Do I make you uncomfortable?” Lena asked when Kara didn’t respond.

“What?! Of course not,” Kara quickly said. “No. I’m totally comfortable.”

Lena hummed, putting her elbow on Kara’s desk, and resting her chin on her hand. “You could have fooled me. And there has to be a reason I make you uncomfortable. Do you not like me very much?”

Kara shook her head. “It’s not that.”

“Good,” Lena replied. “In that case, what are you doing Friday night?”

“Friday night?” Kara asked.

Lena smiled. “Are you free? I thought maybe you could come over again. We can order in and watch a movie again.”

“Actually, I promised Alex I would spend some quality time with her this weekend,” Kara replied. “All weekend. So Friday night and all day Saturday.”

“Too bad,” Lena said. “Maybe next weekend.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Kara replied.

She felt bad about lying, but she didn’t know what else to do. She hated that Lena had finally seemed to notice her, really notice her, now of all times. It was what she’d wished since the first time she saw Lena and now it was happening at the worst possible time. Kara was trying to keep her distance from Lena, but Lena seemed to be increasingly more determined to spend time with her. Any other time she would have been thrilled, but now it just made things harder. Because she could avoid Lena as Supergirl, but avoiding her as Kara was going to be difficult.

* * *

 

“Are you going to eat that or just play with it?” James asked, raising his eyebrows at Kara.

Kara’s stomach gave a slight rumble as she stabbed the meatball with her fork and popped it into her mouth. She wasn’t nearly as hungry as she would normally be—especially when she’d barely touched breakfast—but she’d been that way most of the week. With everything going on, she’d just lost her appetite a bit. Which was really weird for her; the only other time it had happened was when they’d been told that her adoptive father had died in the plane crash.

“You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not hungry,” Winn commented.

“Well, that’s just not true,” Kara replied.

“No, I’m with Winn,” James said.

“Don’t look at me,” Lucy said when Kara looked her way. “I’m with these two.”

Kara sighed and found herself glancing in Lena’s direction. She kept telling herself that she was only trying to stay aware of where Lena was so she could avoid her, but she knew it was a lie. It was just something she’d subconsciously been doing for years and it had only seemed to have gotten worse in the past few months. And this week it seemed to be happening more than ever.

“Okay, I have to ask,” Lucy said. “What is going on there?”

“Me?” Kara asked, noticing that Lucy was looking at her.

“Yes, you,” Lucy replied.

“What’s going on where?” Kara asked with a frown.

“With you and Lena Luthor,” Lucy said.

Kara locked eyes with Winn for a moment and then ducked her head when she felt herself blushing. “I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. There’s nothing going on with us. Lena and I are friends. Sort of.”

“It looks like you want to be a lot more than her friend,” Lucy commented.

“That’s not—I—” Kara’ mouth opened and closed several times.

“You wouldn’t be the first girl with a crush on Lena Luthor. Half the people in the school fall all over themselves just to be near her.” Lucy shrugged. “She’s beautiful, she’s smart, she rich—you’re not the first person to have a crush on her.” Lucy glanced at James when he gave her a look. “Oh, please. Not me.”

James laughed. “I was just making sure I didn’t have some competition.”

“And it’s not just the way you look at her,” Lucy said, looking at Kara again. “It’s hard not to notice the way she’s been staring at you.”

“Lucy’s right,” James replied. “Lena’s been staring at you an awful lot. And she’s moved to sit in front of you in both trig and English even though one of those seats was taken by yours truly.”

“It’s not exactly a secret that Lena likes girls,” Lucy added. “It’s one of those things that no one’s really ever asked her, but people know. And it’s obvious she’s turned her attention to you. So, maybe I’m completely wrong here, but something tells me I’m not. Especially because Winn doesn’t look at all surprised.”

“What? No! I’m very surprised!” Winn lied.

“That was terrible, man,” James said with a laugh.

Kara sighed. “Does everyone know? Is everyone talking about it?”

Lucy shook her head. “I haven’t heard anyone say anything. I have heard a few people wonder how you’ve managed to get Lena’s attention, but that’s it. And James and I aren’t going to tell anyone. I’m just curious and being nosy.”

“I don’t exactly know what’s going on with Lena,” Kara said. “We’ve sort of been becoming friends for a few weeks, but not really. I don’t know how to describe it really. Friendly acquaintances? You guys know I invited her for Thanksgiving dinner and she came for it. Ever since then, she’d been talking to me a lot more, and I honestly don’t know what to do about it.”

“Well, do you like her?” James asked.

Kara sighed again and closed her eyes for a moment. “That’s complicated.”

“Just know that if you both don’t start being a little more subtle about it, we won’t be the last one asking you what’s going on,” Lucy said.

“Then I guess I’m going to have to work on that,” Kara replied.

“But who’s going to tell her to work on it?” Winn said, pointing his finger toward Lena. “Because she’s staring over here at you right now and has been for the past few minutes.”

Kara kept her eyes on her food, doing her best not to look across the cafeteria at Lena. “I’m sure she’ll figure it out.”

“Judging by that look on her face, I don’t think she cares who notices,” Lucy said, raising her eyebrows.

* * *

 

Kara’s eyes were on the television, but she could see Winn looking at her out of the corner of her eye. He’d been doing it for the past hour, glancing at her every few minutes.

“Okay, you’re driving me nuts,” Kara said, throwing her hands up, and turning to her friend. “What is it?”

“What’s what?” Winn asked.

“You keep looking at me,” Kara said, crossing her arms over her chest. ‘“Why do you keep looking at me?”

“Sorry,” Winn replied. “It’s just that the girl in the movie reminds me of someone. Does she remind you of someone?”

Kara frowned and looked at the television again. “No?”

Winn hummed. “Really? Because I think she looks like Lena.”

“What?” Kara scoffed. “No. She’s—she’s not nearly as pretty as Lena and her eye color is all wrong.”

“Yeah, you clearly haven’t given it any thought,” Winn said with a slight smile.

Kara furrowed her brows and flopped back onto the arm of the couch. “I haven’t.”

“You know, Lena was staring at you half the day, right? And yesterday? All week, really?” Winn said. “Why do I get the feeling that there’s more there than you’ve told me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kara replied.

Winn rolled his eyes. “Please. Lucy was right when she said it’s hard not to notice the way Lena stares at you. She didn’t really start doing that until after we came back from the break. Did something happen after I left on Thanksgiving?”

“No.” Kara sighed. “Sort of. I don’t know. It’s complicated. Nothing serious happened; she just kissed my cheek.”

“So she does like you?” Winn said.

“I think she does,” Kara replied. “And Supergirl. And now that things fell apart with Supergirl, she seems to be paying more attention to me.”

“You realize you and Supergirl are the same, right?” Winn asked with an amused smile.

“ _I_ know that, but _she_ doesn’t,” Kara said. “She seems to have no idea that I’m trying to stay away from her.”

“Maybe she knows and she’s just not letting it deter her,” Winn replied, shrugging. “Because I’ve heard some of your excuses and they’re terrible. You are the worst liar. And this is coming from someone who is also pretty terrible at it.”

“Okay, you two be good,” Alex said as she walked out of her room, putting on her leather jacket before pointing at Kara. “Promise me you’ll call in a team if you go anywhere tonight. With everything that’s been going on, I don’t want you out there alone.”

“I thought you had the night off,” Kara said with a frown. “You know, Director Henshaw is working you too hard. Someone should really say something to him.”

“He’s not the one who called,” Alex replied. “It was that Detective Sawyer woman that was at the school. She called to ask my opinion on a case.”

“And you’re going to help her?” Kara asked. “I thought you said a week ago that you hoped you never had to see her again.”

“Yeah, well, she shouldn’t have shown up at my crime scene and then tried to say it was her case,” Alex replied. “And if someone as cocky as her called for help then it must be bad.” Alex grabbed her keys from the island. “Look, I mean it about not going out there without backup.”

“I won’t go without telling anyone,” Kara said.

“Thank you,” Alex replied. “I’ll probably be late.”

“Be careful,” Kara called after her.

“Wow,” Winn said when Alex had closed the door behind her. “She really doesn’t like that detective, does she? She seemed nice enough to me.”

“Alex is just stubborn,” Kara remarked. “She’ll figure out soon enough that they’re both just trying to do their jobs and that they probably actually have a lot in common. Maybe they can even be friends. Alex spends so much time at work that sometimes it’s hard for her to really make new friends. Sometimes I actually worry about her. She’s spent so much of her life taking care of me that she doesn’t always take care of herself. People need friends and I know Alex has sacrificed that part of her life over the past few years. I just hope that can change and maybe the detective will be the one to change it.”

“Speaking of friends—”

“Ugh, no,” Kara said, holding up her hand. “Do not bring up Lena again.”

“C’mon,” Winn replied, giving her a smile. “All this is far more interesting than my life. You can’t blame a guy for being curious. Besides, this is Lena Luthor we’re talking about. The most popular girl in school likes you and you’re really just going to avoid her? After liking her for how long now? Can’t you just act like you’ve always acted when you’re around her as Kara. I mean, if she doesn’t know you’re Supergirl, what’s the harm?”

Kara shook her head. “It’s too dangerous. The closer I get to her, the more likely she’ll be to figure it out.

Winn sighed. “Fine. But you’re killing me here, you know? Watching you two is like watching a car crash about to happen. I’m afraid you’re both going to get hurt and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“There is not going to be any crash,” Kara insisted.

“Let’s hope not,” Winn replied.

* * *

 

_I hope you’re wearing your seat belt._

Kara frowned at Winn’s message. He had only left a few seconds ago and she had absolutely no idea what he meant by it. Kara didn’t have much time to dwell on it, though, as she became aware that she wasn’t alone in the apartment. She could hear someone’s footsteps and slightly elevated heart rate as they neared her door. She knew it wasn’t Winn coming back since the footsteps were much too light to be his and Alex had texted her only a few minutes ago to let her know she would be a few more hours, which left her wondering just who was coming toward her door and if she was about to be attacked in her own apartment.

Just as she lowered her glasses to look through the door, there was a knock on the door and Kara relaxed slightly. Who would knock if they were about to attack her? That would completely give up the element of surprise. When she looked through the door, she saw she definitely wasn’t about to be attacked. Unfortunately, it was worse than that.

Kara walked over and opened the door, trying to look surprised when she saw Lena standing on the other side. “Lena! What are you doing here? How’d you get in?”

“I was about to knock when your friend opened the door,” Lena said. “He let me in.”

Kara glanced down at the message Winn had sent her and nodded. “That makes a little more sense now.”

“What does?” Lena asked.

“Never mind,” Kara said, shaking her head, and setting her phone down on her desk. “Um, is there something you needed? Did you have a homework question or something?”

“No, nothing like that,” Lena replied, clasping her hands together in front of her. “I was actually just thinking about you and I thought I would stop by.”

“Oh,” Kara said.

“And ask you why you’ve been avoiding me all week,” Lena added.

Kara opened her mouth, pausing for a moment before saying, “What? No I haven’t.”

“I’m not stupid, Kara,” Lena replied. “I can tell when someone is avoiding me. I’ve had plenty of experience with it in my life. Normally I cut my losses, but I’m not going to let you get by with it so easily. Not this time. I like you Kara, and I don’t usually like a lot of people.”

“Wh—I—”

Kara opened and closed her mouth a few times before looking away. She really hadn’t expected Lena to confront her about it and she wasn’t sure what to say. While she knew she needed to stay away from Lena, she really didn’t want to hurt her. After all, as far as Lena knew, she’d done absolutely nothing wrong to Kara Danvers.

“Would it help if I told you I already know the answer to my question?” Lena said, taking a step toward Kara. “I know exactly why you’ve been avoiding me.”

“I really doubt that,” Kara found herself saying before she could stop herself.

“At least you’re now admitting that you’ve been avoiding me,” Lena said, stepping even closer to Kara. “It’s a start.”

“Can we talk about this at school on Monday?” Kara asked. “I’m getting kind of tired.”

“You know you’re a terrible liar, right?” Lena said. “You always try to avoid people’s eyes whenever you’re lying to them. It’s a dead giveaway.” She looked down at Kara’s hands. “And you also fidget.”

Kara stilled her hands, crossing her arms over her chest so she wouldn’t be tempted to continue playing with the bottom of her shirt. “Lena—”

Kara was cut off when Lena’s lips crashed with hers. Kara let out a squeak of surprise as her brain told her to stop Lena, but her body wasn’t really cooperating. Instead, Kara pulled Lena closer as Lena wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck while deepening the kiss.

Kara knew this was the last thing that should be happening. She knew she should have stopped Lena the moment their lips touched, yet Kara didn’t do anything to slow Lena down. Instead, she let herself get lost in the kiss, loving the way Lena’s body seemed to fit perfectly against her as Lena’s teeth scraped against her lip. It wasn’t until Lena’s arms had moved from around Kara’s neck and her hands were resting at the collar of Kara’s shirt that Kara finally pulled back.

“Lena, wait,” Kara said, grabbing Lena’s hands whenever she went for the top button of her shirt. “I admit that I like you, but I’m not ready for that.”

Lena’s eyebrow quirked. “I don’t exactly move that fast, either. There’s just something I’ve wanted confirmed since the moment Supergirl saved me. Or should I say from the moment you saved me?”

Kara’s whole body froze, but her hands remained on Lena’s.

“It’s okay,” Lena said. “I told you I know why you’ve been avoiding me. I know who you are. I’ve always known. And maybe you won’t believe me, but your secret is safe with me. I hate that you think I’m the one who told my mother those things about you, but I get it. I was angry at first, but I know why you thought it. I’m just hoping you’ll trust me this time.”

Kara swallowed thickly before slowly removing her hands from Lena’s and giving her a barely-there nod. She knew Alex was going to absolutely kill her, but as Lena undid the top three buttons on her shirt, Kara didn’t try to stop her. She kept her eyes on Lena’s, neither of them breaking eye contact until the third button was unfastened and Lena finally looked down while Kara released the breath she didn’t even realize she had been holding.

“It’s nice to officially meet you,” Lena said. “Supergirl.”


	13. Trust

Kara closed her eyes as Lena brought their lips together again. This time, though, the kiss was soft and slow. Almost like they were kissing for the first time, both of them a little hesitant. Finally, after a few minutes, Lena pulled back and lightly touched the material of Kara’s Supergirl suit as she looked into Kara’s eyes.

“How did you know?” Kara asked.

“Well, not to sound too conceited, but I do have a genius IQ,” Lena replied. “I actually knew as soon as I heard your voice. And then when I saw you, I had no doubt who you were. The girl I’d had a crush on for the past year was there to save me. Imagine my surprise.”

“You—what—”

“Letting your hair down and taking your glasses off really isn’t a foolproof disguise, you know?” Lena said, looking at her in amusement. “And if that had fooled me, it wouldn’t have been hard to figure out with the way you’ve been acting this week.”

“Can we go back to the part where you had a crush on me?” Kara asked. “I didn’t even think you knew who I was.”

“You’re very hard not to notice, Kara Danvers,” Lena replied. “Even when you’re trying to stay invisible.”

Kara’s mouth opened and closed several times, but she didn’t know what to say. She was slightly flabbergasted by the whole thing. She’d never have guessed that Lena knew her name, let alone had a crush on her. They had never really spoken a word to each other until she’d saved Lena, and Kara had always assumed Lena didn’t know she existed. Even when she found out differently, it still had never occurred to Kara that Lena had been paying attention to her quite that closely. Having known her name was one thing, but this was a whole new shock to Kara.

“But if you knew who I was then why did you pretend not to?” Kara asked.

“Honestly? It was fun watching you try to be two different people,” Lena answered. “I especially liked all the excuses you tried to come up with when you suddenly had to leave. Or how you would disappear from class and then come back smelling like smoke or have glass in your hair. And then of course pictures would show up online of Supergirl saving someone from a house fire or diffusing some hostage situation during the exact time you had disappeared.”

“Why say something now then?” Kara wondered.

Lena sighed. “For several reasons. One of which was I missed you. I was angry that you thought I told my mother everything about you, but now I know why. I found a listening device in my room. That’s how they knew everything. I was angry, but I realized I really couldn’t blame you for thinking it. If I were you, I would have thought the same thing. I won’t lie and say it didn’t hurt, but I get it.” Lena reached in her bag and pulled out a small, round object. “I was sure to destroy it, but I thought maybe your people could trace where it came from. Maybe it’ll give them some clue about where these people have set up their operations.”

Kara took it from Lena’s hand. “I’ll have my people look into it.”

Lena nodded. “I do think you were right about one thing. I do believe Luthor Corp is behind these things. Or at least my mother is. I have no way of proving it yet, but I’ve been looking into a few things and there are a few things that don’t add up. More than a few things, really.”

“I’m sorry,” Kara said, shaking her head.

“Are you really surprised?” Lena asked. “This is Lillian Luthor we’re talking about, after all. Lex could do no wrong in her eyes; this is probably just her way of getting back at everyone.”

“Not about that,” Kara replied. “Or—I am, but that’s not what I was apologizing for. I’m sorry I thought you were a part of this. That I thought you had betrayed my trust. You’ve never done anything to deserve that and I just hope you can forgive me for not trusting you.”

“I told you, I get it,” Lena said. “I am a Luthor. I’m used to people’s mistrust by now.”

“That doesn’t mean it’s right,” Kara replied. “You shouldn’t have to be used to it. I’m going to try to find a way to make this up to you.”

“You can make it up to me by stopping my mother,” Lena said. “Stop her from hurting people. Stop her from hurting _you_. I may have not told her anything, but your trust in me was the reason she knows about you.”

Kara sighed and then nodded. “I’ll do what I can, Lena, but I need you to promise me something. Promise me you’ll be careful. If your mother is behind this then she’s already had you kidnapped. I would like to think she wouldn’t really put you in danger, but I honestly don’t know what she’s capable of.”

“Try anything,” Lena replied. “That’s why she needs to be stopped.”

Kara nodded again. “I’ll do everything I can.”

* * *

 

“Alex, are you there?”

“I’m here,” Alex said, her voice loud and clear in Kara’s ear. “Where are you? I can’t hear you very well.”

“Flying,” Kara answered. “I need to talk to you. Are you at the DEO?”

“Yeah, I’m here,” Alex said.

“Good,” Kara replied as she dropped down, landing on the floor a little harder than she’d anticipated, causing everyone in the vicinity to look over at her. “I just flew in.”

“I’m in the training room,” Alex stated.

“Be there in a second,” Kara said, using her super speed to get there in the blink of an eye.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked the moment Kara had come to a stop. “You sounded worried.”

Kara sighed. “I want you to promise that you’ll stay calm. Do not freak out about what I’m about to tell you.”

“Okay, now you have to tell me,” Alex replied. “Seriously. Right now, because I am beginning to freak out.”

“Okay, so, Lena came to see me this evening,” Kara said, causing her sister’s eyes to narrow. “Which, I know I said I was going to avoid her, but sometimes things change.”

“Tell me what happened,” Alex demanded, putting her hands on her hips.

“Lena believes her mother is involved with everything that’s been happening here in National City,” Kara said. “She found a bug in her room; that’s how they knew the things they knew. They overheard me tell Lena that Superman and I are cousins. So, I’m the one who told them, not Lena.”

“Just because Lena claims she found a bug, it doesn’t mean she really did,” Alex replied. “She could have planted that herself. This doesn’t mean she’s not involved with everything.”

“I believe her, Alex,” Kara said.

“I thought you had your doubts about her?” Alex replied. “I mean, she comes to you and you just suddenly believe everything she says again? I know you want to believe the best in people, but not everyone is good, Kara.”

“Fine, yes, I doubted her for a moment, but I was wrong,” Kara said. “I trust Lena. She’s on our side. She wants to stop her mom just as much as we do. That’s why she came to me.”

“That doesn’t pro—wait a minute.” Alex held up her hand, staring at Kara for a moment. “When you say she came to you, do you mean _you_ you? Because she doesn’t know where _Supergirl_ lives. She only knows where _Kara Danvers_ lives. Please tell me you did not tell Lena who you are.”

Kara shifted slightly. “No—”

“Thank god,” Alex said.

“Because Lena already figured it out,” Kara continued.

Alex’s mouth dropped open and she started pacing back and forth. Even without saying a word, Kara knew how angry her sister was. In fact, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen her sister look like that. She didn’t even look _that_ angry after Kara had revealed herself to the world.

“She’s known this whole time,” Kara said, watching Alex walk back and forth across the floor. “She figured it out as soon as I saved her from the kidnappers. If she was really in on this, she would have told them months ago. You said yourself that they don’t seem to know who I am. Right?”

“I could be wrong,” Alex said, shaking her head.

“If you think you could be wrong about this, why can’t you admit you could be wrong about Lena?” Kara asked. “You don’t even have to trust her; you just have to trust me. I know in my heart that Lena is good, and I feel horrible that I ever doubted that. I’m not going to doubt her again.”

Alex sighed and threw her hands up. “So, why did her own mother kidnap her?”

“Lena thinks they did it to discredit Superman,” Kara answered, running her hand through her hair. “They knew he wasn’t on this world, and they wanted him to look like the bad guy when he didn’t save Lena. They didn’t count on me being here to screw up their plans. Personally, I also think Lillian was trying to gain sympathy for her family. The media believes the Luthors are all bad, so she turned Lena into a victim to try to get them on their side. But she also didn’t count on Lena or us figuring out what she’s doing. Lena wants to help us, though.”

Alex took a deep breath and slowly released it. “What now, then?”

“I don’t know,” Kara replied. “I was kind of hoping you’d tell me.”

* * *

 

Kara knocked on Lena’s window and listened as Lena closed the book she’d been reading and walked toward the window. As soon as she pulled back the curtains, Kara pointed toward the balcony and Lena nodded in understanding, disappearing behind the curtains once again.

When Kara landed, she took a look around, spotting at least four more listening devices within the Luthors’ penthouse, including one on the balcony. Kara wasn’t surprised; she knew Lena may have found one, but she’d doubted it was the only one. And not only did Kara know she was being listened to, but she also had the feeling of being watched. Sure enough, when she looked over her shoulder, she spotted a man in the next building over, his telephoto lens pointing directly at her. When the door opened, Lena gave her a smile that made her momentarily forget about all that, though.

“Hey, Supergirl.” Lena said, her eyes sparkling in the moonlight.

Kara couldn’t help returning her smile. “Hi.”

“Is this a business call or—” Lena let the question hang in the air, her eyebrow quirking up.

“I—actually, why don’t we go somewhere else?” Kara said, suddenly remembering they weren’t exactly alone at the moment. “I hope you don’t mind flying.”

“I think it could become my favorite way to travel,” Lena replied, taking a step toward Kara.

Kara smiled and gently picked Lena up, and when she began drifting up, Lena let out a little squeak, which only made Kara’s smile grow. “It’s okay; I won’t drop you.”

“I know,” Lena replied, though her hold on Kara tightened. “I trust you with my life.”

Kara made sure not to fly too quickly. She could tell Lena was a little nervous, but she also seemed to enjoy it as well. Kara understood the feeling perfectly well. The first few times she had flown, it had been a little scary, but in an exciting kind of way. Unlike Kara, though, Lena wasn’t virtually indestructible, so she understood the nerves. Being that high up was exhilarating, but dangerous. Not that Kara would ever let anything happen to Lena, of course.

“We should be safe here,” Kara said as she floated to the top of a building on the other side of the city.

“I’m guessing the device I found wasn’t the only one?” Lena asked.

Kara shook her head. “I saw four others. One of them was on the balcony. Plus, there was a man across the street who was photographing me.”

Lena frowned. “You didn’t stop him?”

“I’m trying to lay low,” Kara replied.

“I hate to break it to you, but I don’t think coming to my window is laying low,” Lena said.

Kara smiled. “No, but I don’t want to let on how much we know. If they know that I know they’re watching me, they’ll become more covert about it. So, I’m just going to pretend I have no idea. At least that way I’ll know where they are at all times. But I also didn’t want them to overhear me, which is why I brought you here.”

“I’m assuming you have news?” Lena said.

“I went to my people and told them what we discussed earlier,” Kara replied. “They’re not entirely convinced you’re on our side, but they have agreed to look into things.”

“So, what you’re saying is your sister still hates me, but she’s going along with it,” Lena said.

“What? No,” Kara quickly said.

“To be a special agent, she’s not very covert,” Lena replied, her eyebrow rising. “She’s with the DEO, right?”

Kara sighed. “If she didn't kill me before, she’s going to kill me now.”

“Actually, she only has herself to blame for this one,” Lena said. “It’s kind of obvious when she keeps showing up places with Supergirl.”

“Okay, yes, Alex is looking into it,” Kara admitted. “They’re not having the best luck at hacking your mother’s files, though. Apparently, she has an impressive security system that even our best people haven’t gotten through yet. The weapons, the fake break in, the attacks—we know they’re planning something big, but until we get through her security, we won’t know what it is. We know it can’t be anything good, though. And it’s especially bad now that they have the ability to zap my powers from me. It means I may not be able to stop them when the time comes.”

“You will,” Lena said, reaching out for Kara’s hand. “Powers or no powers, you’ll stop them. I know you; you won’t let them hurt anyone. But to make things easier, we need to figure out a way to keep you safe from that weapon.”

“I don’t know if we can,” Kara replied.

“Maybe there’s something at Luthor Corp that—”

“No!” Kara quickly interrupted. “Please, Lena. Don’t put yourself in danger. Especially not for me. Promise me you’ll leave it alone. We’ll figure something out, but you cannot be involved like that.”

“I want to help,” Lena said.

“I know you do, but I don’t want you getting hurt,” Kara replied.

Lena leaned up, surprising Kara by bringing their lips together.

“Thank you,” Lena whispered.

“For what?” Kara asked.

“For caring,” Lena replied.

* * *

 

“Who’s out there? I have a baseball bat and I know how to use it!”

“You have Thor’s hammer and it’s plastic,” Kara replied.

Winn sighed as he opened the window. “Dammit, Kara, you scared me to death. I thought you were someone coming to rob me or kill me in my sleep.”

“Have you been watching scary movies before bed again?” Kara asked.

“No,” Winn replied. “Okay, maybe. Regardless, why are you sneaking around outside my window at night?”

“I wasn’t sneaking,” Kara said. “I landed and I even knocked.”

“Oh,” Winn replied, furrowing his brows. “Well, it is,” he looked over his shoulder, “one in the morning. Jesus. I know you’re my best friend, but you couldn’t have picked a better time to drop by?”

“Can I come in?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, why not,” Winn replied rubbing his eye as he stepped back. “I’m guessing it’s important or you wouldn’t be here.”

“It is,” Kara said as she climbed through his window. “You can put the hammer down, you know?”

“Oh, right,” Winn replied, tossing it onto his bed. “And it’s called Mjolnir. But go on. Does your being here have to do with Lena stopping by when I was leaving?”

“Yes, and a little heads up about that would have been nice, by the way,” Kara said.

“I sent you a text,” Winn replied.

“Telling me you I hope I’m wearing a seat belt is not a heads up,” Kara argued.

Winn shrugged. “I thought it was funny. But okay, fine, the next time I’ll be a little clearer. Now, are you going to tell me what’s going on and why you woke me up?”

“I will start by saying that you do not have to do this,” Kara said. “Because it could possibly be dangerous, and I don’t want you to feel like you have to agree to it.”

“Noted,” Winn replied. “Now tell me what I may or may not be agreeing to.”

“Lena knows who I am,” Kara stated.

“Like she knows you’re Supergirl?” Winn asked.

Kara nodded. “And she’s known this whole time. She figured it out when I rescued her and she’s just been pretending this whole time not to know.” Kara furrowed her brows. “She said it was fun trying to watch me be two different people.”

“Well, that can be amusing,” Winn commented. “You come up with the lamest excuses sometimes.”

“Anyway, Lena’s on our side,” Kara continued. “She came to me because she thinks her mom is behind everything that’s been happening here. She thinks her mom set up her kidnapping and staged the break in so no one would suspect anyone in Luthor Corp of being behind everything. Lena thinks her mom is trying to finish what Lex started.”

“That’s bad,” Winn replied.

“It’s very bad,” Kara agreed. “Especially now that they can take my powers away if I get hit by that gun thing.”

“Okay, so, where do I come into all this?” Winn asked.

“The DEO hasn’t been able to get through their security,” Kara explained. “They were able to get some of their files, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. And I know the DEO probably has their best people working on it, but that doesn’t mean they’re the best.” Kara gave him a pointed look. “I was hoping maybe you would be better than their best.”

“I—don’t know what you’re talking about,” Winn said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Hacking is illegal and not something I would ever be involved with. Besides, someone like Lillian Luthor is going to have crazy security. Especially if she’s the head of some clandestine organization that’s trying to take down the world’s most beloved superheroes.”

“Are you saying it’s impossible?” Kara asked.

“No, not impossible,” Winn answered. “Just not easy.”

“Like I said, the DEO is working on it so they would probably crack it before you can, but—”

“Whoa, whoa,” Winn said, holding up his hand. “Are you saying they’re better than me?”

“I’m just saying they have a bit of a head start,” Kara replied. “Besides, you don’t hack, right?”

“I—” Winn opened and closed his mouth. “Fine, I do. And I guarantee I will get in before those hacks at the DEO. No pun intended.”

“I want you to think about this before you agree to it,” Kara said. “Like I said, it could be dangerous if they figure out what you’re doing.”

Winn waved her off. “I know how to cover my tracks. You don’t have to worry about that.”

“Give me by the end of the next week and I’ll get you what you need,” Winn said. “But I’m not going to be any use without my sleep, so—”

“I’ll leave you to it,” Kara replied. “Thank you, Winn.”

“What are friends for?” Winn asked with a shrug.

* * *

 

Kara landed inside her apartment and looked down with a groan. She had been awoken early by the sound of sirens and her sister’s voice in her ear. A very large and very slimy alien had gotten loose inside the city and the DEO had needed Supergirl’s help. Thankfully, the alien hadn’t been particularly aggressive. Just enormous, which caused it to destroy things everywhere it went. With the help of several DEO agents, she’d eventually lured it to an abandoned lot, where they were able to restrain it. Unfortunately, that was after Kara had been sprayed with slime, which she was now getting all over the floor.

“Should I even ask?”

Kara jumped and spun around to find Lena sitting on the couch. Frowning, she looked around, wondering how Lena had managed to get in since Alex was still cleaning up the mess the alien had left.

“The door was unlocked,” Lena said as if reading her mind. “I thought about waiting in the hallway for you to come home, but I thought it would be better if I wasn’t in the open like that. You two should really make sure your door is locked, though.”

“You’re definitely good at sneaking up on people,” Kara commented. “Even me and I have super hearing.”

Lena laughed lightly. “I’m assuming you were a little preoccupied with the—goo?”

“Yeah, speaking of which, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll just be a moment,” Kara said, motioning toward the bathroom.

Kara was in and out of the shower and dressed in clean clothes in under two minutes. And half of that was waiting on the water to get warm. When she came out, Lena was no longer sitting on the couch. Instead, she was standing in the kitchen with the kettle in her hand.

“I thought I would make some tea,” Lena said as she turned the water on. “I’m guessing you’ve had a long morning.”

Kara nodded as she blotted her hair dry with her towel. “That’s a bit of an understatement.”

“Twitter is already talking about it,” Lena remarked, glancing toward her phone. “I have no idea how you managed to fight that thing. From the pictures I saw, it looked scary.”

“It wasn’t so bad,” Kara said, shrugging. “It was big, but it was kind of like a monstrous puppy. Apparently someone was breeding them and didn’t realize they grow when they’re exposed to salt water. But we managed to get it away from civilians and shrink it back down to a more manageable size. The hardest part is going to be cleaning everything up because it did a lot of damage, but I’m just the muscle, so I don’t have to worry about that.”

Lena smiled. “Well, I’m glad everything is okay. I have to admit I was worried when I saw the pictures. I know you can take care of yourself, but I can’t help worrying when you’re fighting something that’s the size of a semi.”

Kara looked down for a moment and then glanced back up at Lena. “You were really worried about me?”

“Why do you sound surprised?” Lena asked.

“I’m just,” Kara shrugged, “not really used to anyone other than Eliza and Alex worrying about me. And they’re my family, so they kind of have to.”

“Is it really so weird to think that I care about you?” Lena asked. “In case you haven’t noticed, I sort of like you.”

“Just sort of?” Kara teased, trying to contain her smile.

Lena shrugged. “Well, why don’t you go out with me tonight and I’ll show you how much I like you.” Lena frowned slightly. “That came out a little more suggestive than I intended.”

Kara laughed. “It’s fine.”

“I mean it, though,” Lena replied. “Would you go out with me tonight? I know there’s a lot going on right now and maybe this is a terrible time, but that’s why I think we should go. We don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow, so we should have our first date tonight.”

“I can’t promise I won’t have to leave in the middle of it,” Kara said. “But yes, I would love to go out with you.”

Lena smiled. “Then it’s a date.”


	14. Date

“You know, there would have been a lot faster way to get up here,” Kara commented as she walked up the steps behind Lena.

“Yes, but I’m the one who asked you out, so I’m the one who gets to plan this,” Lena said, looking over her shoulder with a smile. “Besides, I don’t know how well I would fly in this dress. The last thing I need is some tabloid publishing a picture of us flying over the city with my underwear exposed. And if it makes you feel any better, we’re here.”

Kara took the last few steps and smiled as she looked around in awe. She had seen the city from above plenty of times, but this was a different sight. They had driven outside of town and trekked up a hill, so she could see the whole city in the distance. For once, she was far enough away that the only thing she really heard was her and Lena’s heartbeats and the sound of nature around them instead of the hustle and bustle of National City.

“What do you think?” Lena asked.

“It actually seems peaceful,” Kara said.

Lena smiled. “I come here when things become too much. When I just want to get away from everything and everyone. My mother actually bought this land a year ago. She’s talked about making it a summer house, but nothing has ever come of it. She’s been too busy. Now I guess I know why.” Lena shook her head. “She doesn’t know I come up here. No one does. Except you now. Since dinner and a movie seemed a little clichéd, I thought we would go with dinner and viewing the stars.”

“Well, we managed to make it through dinner uninterrupted. Hopefully our luck holds.” Kara gave Lena a soft smile.

Really, it was a bit more than luck, but she didn’t need to tell Lena that. Kara had told Alex not to call her unless it was something serious, trusting that the National City police and fire department knew how to do their jobs. Unfortunately, that meant she had to dodge a lot of questions from Alex wondering where she was going to be and what she was doing.

“So, what made you decide to bring me here?” Kara wondered.

“I can imagine living in a city can be a bit overwhelming for you,” Lena said, putting her bag down, and kneeling next to it. “I thought this would give us a chance to talk without you having to try to block so much out. I want to know about you, Kara. And not just your life here, but your life,” Lena looked to the sky, “up there. I’ll admit, I’ve read my brother’s files on everything he knows about Krypton, but I’d like to hear it from you. What it was like before you came here. If you want to talk about it. I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t. I’d be just as happy to hear about your life here.”

Kara watched as Lena laid a blanket out on the ground. Once she’d straightened it, Lena motioned for her to take a seat, but Kara hesitated a moment.

“Are you okay?” Lena asked. “Have I already pushed too much?”

Kara shook her head and sat down next to Lena. “Honestly, I haven’t talked about it in so long that I don’t know where to start. Sometimes I feel like I’m forgetting everything. My parents, my home—who I was then. I’ve only been on Earth for five years and it scares me that maybe one day I won’t remember any of it. I’ve already forgotten so much.”

“Have you thought about writing it down?” Lena asked.

“I did, actually,” Kara replied. “When I first came here. I wrote everything in a journal. I felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone, and it was one of the ways I coped with everything.”

“What was it like coming here?” Lena asked, furrowing her brows.

“It was terrifying,” Kara answered. “On Krypton I was just like any other person. Then I came to Earth and I was unlike anyone. You’re right when you said that living in the city can be overwhelming. And when I first came here it was much worse. It was sensory overload. The worst part was how alone I felt. My whole planet was gone along with those I loved the most. The Danvers tried, but I wasn’t in control of everything then and I was afraid I would hurt them if I let them get too close. I think I was here for a year before I finally let one of them give me a hug.”

“Do you have look at the journal?” Lena asked, reaching over, and taking Kara’s hand.

Kara shook her head. “It had to be locked up. They were afraid if the wrong person saw it that I would be in danger. Sometimes I think about getting it and reading it, though.” Kara sighed and then looked over at Lena. “Thanks. I don’t have many people to talk to about this and it actually feels good to get it out.”

“You once told me if I ever needed someone to talk to that you were here,” Lena said, squeezing her hand. “I want you know I’m here for you, too.”

“Would you want to hear about all the different planets I’ve been to?” Kara asked.

Lena smiled. “I’d love to.”

“It could take a while,” Kara said, lying back on the blanket.

“I’ve spent my night in worse ways,” Lena replied, lying back next to her.

* * *

 

“Someone’s awfully happy today,” Lucy commented when Kara walked by.

Kara shrugged. “I’m just in a good mood today.”

“No one should be in _that_ good a mood on a Monday morning,” Lucy replied.

“I’m guessing you had a good weekend?” James said, glancing over at Kara as he opened his locker.

Kara’s smile grew as she thought about everything that had happened over the weekend. Friday hadn’t started out so great, but things had ended up better than she could have ever expected. Between the kiss and the date and realizing she really could trust Lena, things were certainly looking up. And the best of part of it was that Kara no longer had to try to hide who she was from Lena.

“Yeah, it was good,” Kara said.

As Kara closed her locker, she turned and saw Lena at the end of the hallway. Lena noticed her just a few moments later, stopping in the middle of the hall as she looked at Kara.

“I think I know why she had such a good weekend,” Lucy remarked as she looked between Lena and Kara.

“It would seem so,” James said.

Kara broke eye contact to look at James and Lucy. “Can you two not say anything to anyone? This is all kind of new and I really don’t know how Lena feels about things.”

“Well, given how she smiled when she saw you, I’m guessing she feels pretty good about things,” James replied. “But yeah, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Us,” Lucy corrected.

“Your secret’s safe with us,” James said.

Kara gave them a grateful smile and then looked down the hall as Lena walked their way. Despite everything going on in her life, Lena actually looked happy. Happier than Kara could ever remember

“Good morning,” Lena greeted.

“Hey,” Kara replied, smiling softly at Lena.

“I think we’ll go,” Lucy said. “I have a quiz to study for and James is supposed to help me.”

“We’ll catch you later,” James said, tapping Kara’s arm with the back of his hand.

“Well, they’re not very subtle,” Lena commented as she watched the two make their exit.

Kara sighed. “I hope you’re not mad. I really didn’t tell them anything. Apparently I’ve just not been very subtle.”

“Kara, it doesn’t matter to me,” Lena said, taking a step toward her. “I don’t care if people know I like you. It’s entirely up to you who you wish to tell. If you don’t want people knowing, though, I’ll keep it a secret. Although, I can’t promise I’ll be entirely subtle about it. You’re much better to look at while in class than the whiteboard.”

Kara felt herself blushing as she looked down. “That seems to be my problem as well.”

“Well, at least we’re more interesting than schoolwork, right?” Lena replied with a smile.

“The only thing I worry about is that your mom will figure it out if we’re seen together,” Kara said. “And if she figures out who I am—well, she could come after my sister or friends. She would know exactly where to find me and I’m afraid others would end up getting hurt.”

Lena nodded. “I know. Me too. That was why I made sure we had a private room for dinner on Saturday. I didn’t want to make things harder for you.”

“And here I thought you just wanted to be alone with me,” Kara joked.

“Well, I wasn’t complaining about that,” Lena replied.

“So, I guess for now we’ll just be friends?” Kara said.

“I hope you just mean in public,” Lena replied. “Because it’s going to be hard enough to pretend I don’t like you when we’re around others.”

Kara nodded. “We still need to be careful, though. I don’t know how far your mom is willing to go.”

“All the way, I’m sure,” Lena replied. “I very much doubt she would stop even if I was in the way.”

The bell rang and Kara and Lena both looked away before looking at each other again.

“I guess we should get to class,” Kara said. “Wouldn’t want to be late.”

“Can I walk you?” Lena asked. “Unofficially, of course.”

Kara hesitated a moment but was unable to stop herself from smiling. “I guess that would be fine. As long as it’s unofficial.”

* * *

 

“Are you even paying attention at all?” Alex asked, running her hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face. “We’re doing this because _you_ need the practice, not me. You need to focus.”

Kara threw her hands up. “I’m trying!”

“Not hard enough,” Alex argued. “You need to be ready for what’s coming. Right now, you’re sloppy. You’re completely reliant on your powers, and when you take those away, you’re not even a mediocre fighter. You don’t know how to properly throw a punch, you’re not quick on your feet. You barely even try to dodge my hits; you’re used to be able to take them without it affecting you. But what happens if they use one of those weapons on you again? At least if you know how to fight then you’ll still stand a chance of living even if you do lose your powers.”

“I know!” Kara replied.

“Then act like it,” Alex said.

“Can we just take a break for, like, five minutes?” Kara asked.

“I’ll tell you what, if you managed to make my back touch this mat then we can quit for the day,” Alex said.

Kara rushed her sister, hoping to catch her off guard, but Alex easily deflected her and grabbed her arm, pinning it behind her back, and causing her to fall to the mat. After a few seconds, Alex let her go and Kara stood up with a sigh. She knew Alex was right; she did depend on her powers. She had just assumed she would always have them, though, but in the past month she had seen what it was like without them. Which is why Alex had insisted on sparring in the training room, where Kara was weakened by the Krpytonite around the room, so they would be more evenly matched.

“You need to work on your stance,” Alex said, lightly kicking Kara’s foot to the side. “It’ll help with your balance.”

Kara lifted her hands, readying herself as Alex did the same. This time, Kara waited for Alex to make the first move, and when she did, Kara blocked her, throwing a punch of her own. She missed by several inches, though, and Alex knocked her to the side.

“Better, but still not good enough,” Alex said. “You’ll get killed if you fight like this without your powers.”

“You know, you could be a little nicer,” Kara replied.

“I’m trying to keep you safe,” Alex said, putting her fists up again. “I’m not trying to be mean, but if it keeps you safe then I would rather you alive and annoyed with me than dead. Now, come at me.”

Kara tried to hit Alex, but her sister dodged her first. As she spun around, Kara grabbed Alex’s arm and flipped her over, but Alex managed to land on her feet much to Kara’s annoyance.

“You know, now that I know what this weapon looks like, maybe I can avoid it,” Kara said, dodging a hit from Alex. “Or maybe I’ll take them down before they even get a chance to try to use it on me.”

“Maybe, but you’ve always got to prepare for the worst,” Alex replied. “We know these Luthors are devious, and I would rather you be over-prepared than under.”

“Lex and Lillian,” Kara said, knocking Alex back a few feet when she kneed her. “Not all the Luthors are bad.”

“We’ll see,” Alex replied.

“I wish you would give Lena a chance,” Kara said, throwing a punch that was blocked by Alex.

“I’ll give her a chance when all this is over and I know she’s not involved,” Alex replied, wrapping her arm around Kara’s neck.

“She’s not,” Kara stated.

“You can’t be sure,” Alex replied.

“I know her,” Kara said. “I _trust_ her. She could have lured me into a trap when we went on our date, but she didn’t.”

“Your what?” Alex asked, her grip loosening.

Kara reached up, grabbing Alex’s arm, and leaned forward, flipping Alex over her shoulder. Alex landed on the mat with a groan, and Kara took a step forward, looking down at her sister.

“Your back’s on the mat,” Kara said.

“That is not fair,” Alex commented, pointing at Kara. “You distracted me.”

Kara shrugged. “As they say, all’s fair in love and war. Maybe we’re not quite a war here, but I think it still counts. Besides, shouldn’t I do anything I can to beat the bad guy?”

Alex sat up. “You really went on a date with her? That’s what you were doing on Saturday?”

Kara nodded. “I really like her, Alex.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Alex replied. “Just be careful.”

“I told you, I trust her,” Kara said.

“I don’t mean because of that,” Alex replied. “Or at least not just that. There are other ways for her to hurt you even if she has absolutely nothing to do with what her mom is up to.”

“Do you think she’s going to break my heart?” Kara asked, sitting down next to her sister.

“I don’t know,” Alex replied. “She better not, though. And if she does you can let her know that I know plenty of places to hide a body.”

Kara smiled as she put her head on Alex’s shoulder. “I love you.”

“I thought you were annoyed with me,” Alex replied.

“I am,” Kara said. “But that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”

“I love you, too,” Alex replied. “That’s why I want to keep you safe.”

Kara smiled slightly. “I know.”

* * *

 

“Do you need to go?” Lena asked, lifting her head up to look at Kara as the sound of the sirens grew fainter.

Kara listened for a moment before shaking her head. “It’s just a regular car accident. Nothing Supergirl is needed for.”

“Good,” Lena replied. “Not that I wouldn’t understand entirely, but I like having you here all to myself.”

Kara smiled. “I know the feeling.”

“You know, you were right when you said you’re better than a space heater,” Lena commented, laying her head back on Kara’s shoulder.

“Are you cold?” Kara asked. “I can get you a blanket.”

Lena hummed. “I think I’d rather cuddle with you if that’s okay.”

“Oh, I—yeah, that’s fine,” Kara said. “Totally okay.”

Lena lifted her head again, looking at Kara in amusement. “Do I make you nervous?”

“Me?” Kara asked. “No.” Lena’s eyebrow rose. “Okay, maybe a little. I’ve just never—dated anyone before, so this is all new to me. I’m not used to having someone to cuddle with on a couch and it’s a little weird for me. Not to say that it isn’t great or anything like that! I’m just not used to it.”

Kara certainly wasn’t complaining. She very much enjoyed having Lena’s next to her., but she really wasn’t used to this. Sure, she and Alex would sometimes lay their feet on the other’s lap or something, but this was definitely not the same. This was Lena next to her, and Kara couldn’t help being hyper aware of every move the brunette made and every minor change in her heart rate.

“Do you want me to move over?” Lena asked.

“No, stay,” Kara answered. “Please.”

“Are you sure?” Lena asked.

Kara nodded. “Please.”

“Okay,” Lena softly said.

Kara and Lena locked eyes for a moment and Kara became even more aware of just how close Lena was to her. Lena was the first to break the eye contact, her eyes glancing down to Kara’s lips. As they both began leaning forward, though, Kara heard the sound of keys in the door, and she reluctantly pulled back.

“I know you’ve probably already eaten, but I brought pizza,” Alex called out as she opened the door. “I only got one, though, so if you haven’t eaten, try not to devour it all, okay? I also brought some—” Alex froze as soon as she saw Lena in the room. “I didn’t know you were having anyone over.”

“I thought you would be at work all evening,” Kara said.

“So, you just didn’t tell me?” Alex asked.

“It’s my fault,” Lena said. “I kind of sprung the idea on her at the last minute.”

“So, how was work?” Kara asked, pausing the movie she and Lena had been watching, and standing up. “Find out anything?”

“Yes, any news on my mother?” Lena asked.

“Why would—” Alex looked at Kara, narrowing her eyes.

“Um, will you give us a second?” Kara said to Lena before walking across the apartment, Alex following closely behind.

“You told her?” Alex harshly whispered. “You told her I work for the DEO? Kara!”

“I didn’t tell her!” Kara replied. “She figured it out. I mean, it’s not really that hard. You are my sister and you were at the school and you pop up places after Supergirl’s been there.”

Alex sighed. “She’s going to have to sign non-disclosure agreement. When Director Henshaw finds out about this he is going to demote me.”

“He is not,” Kara replied. “I’m sure she’ll sign it, though. Not that she needs to because she isn’t going to tell anyone.”

“You should get back,” Alex said, glancing at Lena.

Kara looked over her shoulder for a moment, a small smile making its way across her face. “You don’t care that we’re here, do you? I mean, we could maybe go somewhere if you do.”

“It’s fine,” Alex said. “I’ll just make myself scarce.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Kara replied. “You can watch the movie with us if you want. It’s She’s All That; one of your favorites.”

Alex shook her head. “I’ll pass. I have some things I need to catch up on anyway.”

“Okay, but if you change your mind—”

“I know where to find you,” Alex said.

* * *

 

“I need to talk to Kara!” Winn said, pushing past Alex the moment she opened the door.

“I’m in here,” Kara said, lifting her head from Lena’s shoulder, and looking toward the door.

“Hey, I—” Winn stopped talking, freezing when he saw Lena. “Oh, I didn’t know anyone else was here.”

“You found out something, didn’t you?” Kara said, recognizing the look on Winn’s face. “Tell me.”

Winn glanced at Alex and then Lena. “Maybe we should go to your room, so we can talk in private.”

“I can leave if—”

“No,” Kara interrupted. “It’s fine.”

“I, um, I did what you asked me to do,” Winn said. “I finally got in tonight.”

“Got in where?” Alex asked, walking toward Winn with her arms crossed over her chest.

“I asked Winn to try to get into Lillian’s files,” Kara answered. “I know the DEO is working on it, but it’s taking so long, and I was hoping Winn would be more successful.”

“Kara!” Alex said. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that we need to know what’s going on before someone’s killed,” Kara replied. “And if Winn could help with that then I thought it was worth trying.”

“And I found something,” Winn said. “A lot of somethings. You were right. She’s the one behind all of this. She’s heading a group called Cadmus. They’re an anti-alien group with a huge grudge against Superman. And now against Kara as well. Lena’s kidnapping was all just a ruse. They were going to blame it on aliens. They were going to claim it was payback for what Lex did. They knew Superman wouldn’t be around to save her, so it was a way to discredit him, make aliens look bad, and gain sympathy for their family.”

“She didn’t care if I lived or died, did she?” Lena quietly asked.

Winn opened his mouth but closed it and looked down.

“I guess that’s all the answer I need,” Lena said.

Kara reached out for Lena’s hand, but Lena moved away. Kara frowned as she pulled her hand and glanced at her sister, who was watching her.

“What else did you find?” Alex asked.

Winn sighed. “Cadmus was responsible for the bombs at the school. They weren’t really planning on hurting anyone; they just wanted the police distracted. There was something they needed from a safety deposit box, but they had to break in to get it. With all the police and reporters at the school, the theft didn’t get much press. It was the last thing they needed for LX-214 to work. That’s what they call the ray gun that can strip Supergirl of her powers. And you were right; the break in at Luthor Corp was staged. They wanted us to think the weapons were stolen, so we wouldn’t trace all of this back to them. That’s not all.”

“Tell us,” Kara said.

“They’re planning something,” Winn said. “Something big, I think. They must have other ways of communicating, because I couldn’t get all the details, but they were talking about an event at the school.”

“The dance,” Lena said. “It’s next week. If they’re going to attack, that’s when it’ll happen.”

Winn nodded. “Exactly. As far as I can tell, they’re going to attack the school dance to lure Supergirl there, where they plan on using that gun to make her lose her powers.”

“And then they’re going to try to kill me,” Kara said.

“That seems to be the plan,” Winn replied. “Beyond that, I don’t know what they’re going to do. Right now, I think they just want Supergirl out of the way.”

“How do we stop her?” Lena asked.

Winn shrugged. “I guess that’s a question for the Danvers sisters. What do we do?”

“ _We_ don’t do anything,” Alex answered. “Kara should have never brought you into this.” Alex paused for a moment. “But thank you.”

Winn looked down, reaching into his pocket, and pulling out a jump drive. “I put all the files on here. Maybe your people can go through it and find something I didn’t see.”

“Lena, are you okay?” Kara whispered, stepping closer to the other girl.

“I’ll be okay when we stop my mother,” Lena replied.

Kara reached out for Lena’s hand, relieved when the brunette didn’t pull away this time. “I’ll stop her. I can promise you that.”

“Just be careful,” Lena said. “Lex wasn’t the only one in the family who is capable of terrible things. The last thing I want is for her to hurt you.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Kara replied. “Everything will work out. You have my word.”


	15. Even

Kara sighed as everyone began to disperse. Director Henshaw had called a meeting with all the agents to discuss Cadmus and what they were going to do about it, but it had only left Kara frustrated. He wanted to keep her away from the dance, but that wasn’t going to work for Kara. It may be a trap for her, but now that she knew it was a trap, she could keep from getting caught in it.

The other thing she also didn’t agree on was keeping everyone in the dark. She knew they couldn’t cancel the dance without tipping Cadmus off, but she thought they could find a way around that. They could make it look like the dance was still happening, but find a way to get everyone to safety. Director Henshaw thought it was too risky, though. He wanted the dance to continue on while Kara was worried that people would get caught in the crossfire.

“You don’t look very happy.”

Kara looked at her sister as she began walking in circles, unable to stand still. “I’m not. What he wants to do is too risky. People could get hurt and I won’t even be there to protect them.”

“I agree,” Alex replied.

“You do?” Kara asked.

Alex nodded. “I think he’s going about this wrong.”

“Can you talk to him?” Kara asked. “Maybe you can change his mind. I should be there.”

“I’m not overly thrilled with the thought of you being there when we know they can strip you of your powers,” Alex said, her eyes following Kara as she walked.

“I’ll be fine,” Kara replied. “I know what they’re up to now. They won’t catch me by surprise like they did the last time.”

“I don’t think he’s going to budge on telling people,” Alex said. “If the wrong person found out, this could all be for nothing. Cadmus would go deeper underground, and we would have no idea where they were or what they were planning. But I think I may be able to talk him into letting you be there. As much as I hate the idea, we could use you.”

“Fine, but our priority needs to be the safety of others,” Kara replied. “They won’t know what they’re getting into by going to this dance. They may not be the target, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t get hurt anyway.”

“I’m not arguing,” Alex said.

Kara nodded. “Please change his mind.”

“Even if I don’t, will that really stop you from coming?” Alex asked with a slight smile.

“No,” Kara answered. “But this way I’ll get in less trouble with him.

Alex nodded and then looked at Kara, who could see her hesitancy.

“What is it?” Kara asked. “Is there something you haven’t told me that I should worry about?”

“No, nothing like that,” Alex replied. “I just wanted to apologize. I should have trusted you when you told me Lena wasn’t involved in all this. I was just worried you were going to get hurt.” Alex shook her head. “Or worse. I was trying to look out for you, but I should have also trusted your judgment.”

“Luckily it would take a lot for someone to hurt me,” Kara said.

“There are more ways to get hurt than just physically,” Alex replied.

Kara shook her head. “Lena isn’t going to hurt me.”

“Maybe not in the way I thought,” Alex replied. “I see the way you look at her, though.”

Kara felt herself blushing and she looked down. “That’s—”

“Luckily, it’s the same way she looks at you,” Alex interrupted.

“It is?” Kara asked, glancing up.

Alex nodded. “You can let her know she’s welcome at our place anytime. And once all of this is over, I’d like to invite her to dinner. If she’s going to be in your life, then I would like to get to know her a little better. Especially if she’s going to be dating my little sister.”

Kara smiled. “I’ll let her know. But you have to promise not to give her any threatening speeches.”

“I will promise no such thing,” Alex replied.

“Fine, but you better be nice,” Kara said. “Lena’s already been through a lot, and it’s only going to get worse. I know she wants her mom stopped just as much as we do, but she’s still her mom. It’s going to be hard; probably harder than she realizes.”

“I guess it’s a good thing she has you in her life, then,” Alex said.

Kara sighed. “Yeah. I just hope that’s enough.”

“Agent Danvers, can I speak to you for a moment?” Director Henshaw called out.

“Are you going home or are you going to hang around here for a while?” Alex asked.

“I thought I would get a little training in,” Kara said.

Alex nodded. “Find me before you leave, okay?”

“Will do,” Kara said with a nod as Alex turned and began walking toward the Director.

* * *

 

“This is the fourth night this week that you’ve been in here,” Director Henshaw said, crossing his arms across his chest. “That’s smart.”

“Well, I want to be prepared,” Kara replied.

Director Henshaw nodded. “Do you think you’ll be ready by tomorrow night?”

“Does that mean you want me to go?” Kara asked.

“Want is a strong word,” Hank replied. “More like Agent Danvers is very persistent.” He glanced at Alex for a moment before looking back at Kara. “But if anything happens to you, it is not the responsibility of the DEO. You have been warned of the dangers. If you go, you are going under your own volition”

“Understood,” Kara said.

“Good,” Hank replied. “Agent Danvers, you’ll fill her in on everything?”

“Of course,” Alex said with a nod.

“Be ready by tomorrow,” Director Henshaw said before turning and leaving the room.

“I was beginning to think he wasn’t going to change his mind,” Kara commented.

“I was beginning to wonder as well,” Alex replied. “But now that he has—” Alex paused, holding up a finger. “We’re going to have to talk about this later. I’m being called to check out a building across town.”

“Do you need Supergirl?” Kara asked.

“No, you stay here,” Alex replied. “We’ll call you if anything changes. It doesn’t sound like anything we can’t handle, though.”

Kara nodded. “Actually, think I’m going to head home. I’m kind of starving.”

“Can you get extra and put it in the fridge,” Alex asked, pulling her sparring gloves off. “Something tells me I won’t have time to grab dinner.”

“Of course,” Kara replied. “Just be careful. And call me if things change.”

“I’ll see you at home,” Alex said, giving her a slight smile.

Kara watched Alex go as she took off her own sparring gear and set it next to her sister’s. Once it was off, she turned off the lights and then walked through the hallways of the DEO. Several people nodded in acknowledgement as she walked into the main room, and Kara nodded back before finally flying up through ceiling.

Rather than going straight home, Kara went to the Chinese restaurant near her apartment, where she dropped down into the nearest alleyway. As soon as her regular clothes were on, her Supergirl suit hidden away, she walked to the sidewalk and pushed up her glasses as she looked around. No one seemed to be paying any attention to her, so Kara joined the crowds on the streets, walking the short distance to the restaurant.

“Hey, Kara!” a deep voice said behind her, and Kara looked over her shoulder to find James jogging to catch up to her.

“James, hi,” Kara said, giving him a bright smile. “Are you headed home?”

“To get some food, actually,” James replied. “There’s a Chinese restaurant closer to my place, but my mom likes this one.”

“That’s where I’m going, too,” Kara said.

James smiled and slowly began walking. “So, what did you think of that story Mrs. Spencer assigned?”

“I’m going to read it when I get home, so I don’t have an opinion yet,” Kara answered. “Although, if it’s anything like the last one, I doubt I’m going to like it very much.”

James nodded. “That’s a safe guess.” He opened the door and motioned Kara inside. “I was just over at Lucy’s and she was so bored by it she actually fell asleep.”

“Is her class reading it, too?” Kara asked.

“No, she just didn’t believe me, so I had her read it,” James said with a laugh. “She wanted me to come over to help her decide which dress to wear tomorrow. I told her it didn’t matter, but she wanted a second opinion.”

“Dress? You two are going to the dance?” Kara asked.

“Thinking about it, yeah,” James answered. “We haven’t completely decided. She wants to go, but I’d rather go out just the two of us. But if she really wants to go then we probably will.”

“No, don’t do that,” Kara said before she could stop herself. “I just mean that those dances are always boring. Why don’t you plan a special night for her? I’m sure it’ll be much more fun and romantic than a school dance.”

James paused and looked at her, narrowing his eyes. “Is there a reason you think we shouldn’t go?”

“No!” Kara quickly said. “I mean, obviously you two can do what you want, but I’m just saying it seems like there are better ways to spend your evening.

“Right,” James replied, though he didn’t look very convinced. “I take it you’re not going to the dance then?”

“No, I hadn’t planned on it,” Kara lied.

* * *

 

Kara looked around the gymnasium, relieved to see there weren’t as many people at the dance as she feared there’d be. Still, though, there was a good number of people there and more came in every little bit.

“See anything suspicious?”

Alex’s voice was loud and clear in her ear. DEO agents were stationed around the school, but Kara was the only one in the gym. They didn’t want Cadmus to recognize any of the agents, tipping them off that it was all a setup. They knew from the files Winn had gotten that there were pictures of many of the agents, so they were too afraid to risk it. Thankfully, they didn’t know who Kara was and she was a student there, so she wouldn’t draw any suspicion.

“Not yet,” Kara said, turning away from everyone. “But something tells me they’ll be here soon.”

Kara had done several sweeps of the school before entering the dance. They had been afraid they would set bombs off like the last time, but Kara hadn’t found anything out of the ordinary. Kara didn’t know if that was a good or a bad sign; while she hoped it meant they weren’t going for a large-scale attack, it also left her having no clue what they were going to do.

“Keep me posted,” Alex said.

“I will,” Kara replied.

With a sigh, Kara turned around to continue her search of the room, but she halted when she saw someone she wasn’t expecting.

“Alex, Lena is here,” Kara said.

“What is she doing here?” Alex asked.

“I don’t know,” Kara answered as Lena neared. “Lena, what are you doing here?! You promised me you would stay far away.”

“Well, I lied,” Lena replied. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t stay at home knowing what was happening here. And I knew you’d never agree to let me come and you would probably chain me up somewhere if you thought I was going to try, so I lied. You can be angry with me if you want, but I hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Lena, it’s dangerous for you to be here,” Kara said, shaking her head.

“I know,” Lena replied. “But would you have been able to wait around if the roles had been reversed?”

Kara hesitated for a moment before saying, “No.”

“Then hopefully you won’t hold this against me,” Lena replied, holding out her hand. “Shall we?”

Kara furrowed her brows. “What?”

“Will you dance with me?” Lena asked, smiling. “Just one. Then you can work on saving everyone. I mean, we’re safe for now, right?”

Kara glanced around the room, lowering her glasses to make sure things were still fine. When she didn’t see anything or anyone out of the ordinary, she pushed her glasses up.

“Kara, stay alert,” Alex said in her ear.

“I’m sorry, Le—”

“But the rest of us are on the lookout, so maybe one dance won’t hurt,” Alex interrupted.

“Really?” Kara asked.

“Enjoy yourself for one dance,” Alex said. “But only one because Hank looks like he’s about to have a stroke.”

Kara smiled and looked at Lena. “Okay, one dance.”

Lena smiled when Kara placed her hand in hers. As they walked to the dance floor, Kara couldn’t help noticing how many looks they were receiving. And she also couldn’t help hearing the whispers. While Lena’s sexuality seemed to be an open secret at West National City High, the fact that she was dancing with a girl appeared to be causing a stir. Or maybe it was because of who she was dancing with. Kara wasn’t exactly popular or someone people generally noticed, and now one of the most popular and talked about girls in school was walking hand in hand with her.

“I don’t think I’ve had this many people watching me before even as Supergirl,” Kara whispered.

Lena gave her a smile. “Ignore them.”

“It’s a little hard when I have super hearing,” Kara replied as she wrapped her arms around the back of Lena’s neck.

“Kara, I hate to interrupt, but—”

Kara sighed. “Let me guess. They’re here?”

“A van just pulled up behind the school,” Alex said.

“So much for that dance,” Kara commented. “I’m sorry, but—”

“I understand,” Lena replied. “Go. But please be careful.”

“I’ll see you as soon as this is all over,” Kara said. “I promise.”

* * *

 

“The four in the south wing are taken care of,” Kara said. “I’m heading toward the center of the school.”

“Chapman and Riley are heading back with the two from the auditorium,” Alex said. “I’ll send Mason and Yang over.”

“Lillian is here,” Kara said, pushing her glasses up as she walked down the hallway.

“That’s unexpected,” Alex replied. “I guess she really wants to see you brought down.”

“Instead, she’ll get to see herself brought to justice,” Kara said.

They really hadn’t anticipated the elder Luthor being there. While they knew she was behind everything, both Kara and the DEO figured she wasn’t the type to get in the trenches. They had all assumed she would send her minions in to do her dirty work, leaving her free in case something went wrong.

“Wait, where is she going?” Kara said when she lowered her glasses again.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked.

“She’s going into the basement,” Kara said, frowning.

“Is she alone?” Alex asked.

“No,” Kara answered. “There are three men with her and two of them are carrying a box. I can’t see into it. They must have lined it with lead. Whatever is in that box cannot be good.”

“Be careful,” Alex replied. “We have her caught red-handed. She’s not going to be able to get out of this, so try not to do anything stupid.”

“I’m heading to the basement,” Kara said.

She sped up, but couldn’t use her super speed. There were too many people around and she wasn’t exactly in her Supergirl suit. Alex had made her promise not to reveal herself, and Kara was doing her best not to. But she also needed to hurry, and she feared she wouldn’t get to the basement in time.

“Leaving already?”

“Crap,” Kara mumbled to herself.

“What happened?” Alex asked.

“James, Lucy, hi!” Kara said, turning around to face the too.

“Yeah, we thought we’d check it out and then bail if it was boring,” Lucy replied.

“Kara—”

“I’m actually late for something or I’d stay around and talk longer, but I really need to go,” Kara said.

James nodded as Kara began walking backwards down the hall. “Alright. We’ll see you Monday.”

Kara turned around, picking up her pace. Once she figured she was safe, she changed into her suit and sped down to the basement.

“Stop,” Kara demanded the moment she burst through the door, knocking it off its hinges.

“Supergirl,” Lillian said, crossing her arms. “Here so soon?”

“We know what you’re doing,” Kara said. “There are agents all around the building. You’re not going anywhere, so why don’t you give up before you actually hurt someone. It’ll be better for everyone, including you.”

“You know what I think?” Lillian asked. “I think your kind is a plague on this Earth and someone needs to rid the planet of you. My son saw it and he was persecuted for it. This was his vision, and soon the rest of the world will see him as the hero he his.”

Before Kara could reply, a sharp pain shot through her body and she fell to her knees in pain. When she looked up, Lillian was walking toward her with a smirk on her face.

“Kara, what’s going on?” Alex asked in her ear.

“That pain you’re feeling are your powers being stripped from you,” Lillian said. “Let me guess, you were hoping to stop us from using the LX-214 on you again? That was just the portable version. This one will drain anyone’s powers in a four block radius. So if that cousin of yours tries to fly in to save you, he’ll fall from the sky, “

The pain began to subside, and Kara tried to stand but was knocked back down by one of Lillian’s men.

“You won’t get away with this,” Kara said.

“I’m on my way,” Alex said.

“Either way, you’ll still be dead,” Lillian replied. “But you’re wrong if you think I haven’t already gotten away with this.”

She nodded at one of the men in the room and he walked over to the wall across from Kara.

“There was a reason I offered this building to the school district,” Lillian said as the man did something that caused the wall to move, revealing a set of stairs behind it. “Lex sometimes came here to work. He kept it undetectable from even aliens like you. I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist trying to save the day. You and your cousin are so predictable. You even came a little early. I guess you’re as eager to get started as I am.” She looked at the men behind Kara. “Bring her downstairs.”

“You’re not taking her anywhere.”

Kara’s fists clinched as soon as she heard Lena’s voice. She wanted to ask Lena what she was doing or yell at her to run, but she knew it would only make matters worse. She didn’t want Lillian to know how much she cared about her daughter. She knew she would only use it against her.

“Lena, darling, what are you doing here?” Lillian asked.

“I came here to warn you,” Lena answered. “There are DEO agents crawling all over the building. They’re on their way down here right now.”

“And are you telling me this for my sake or hers?” Lillian asked.

“Yours,” Lena answered. “You should escape while you can.”

“Very well,” Lillian said, looking at the nearest man. “Shoot Supergirl and then follow me.”

As soon as the words were out of Lillian Luthor’s mouth, Kara sprung up. She did her best to ignore the pain that seemed to be radiating through her body as she grabbed the man’s hand and struggled for the gun. Neither of them were letting go, so Kara did as Alex had trained her, flipping the man over her shoulder, which lessened his grip on the weapon.

She could hear Lillian order the other men in the room to shoot, and at least one of the men did as they were told. Kara heard the shot ring out just as something collided with her body, knocking her to the ground. A few moments later, she heard her sister shouting and looked up to find her standing in the doorway with three other agents, their guns pointing at Lillian and her men.

“We need a medic in here,” Alex said.

“A med—oh god, Lena!” Kara said, finally becoming aware of what—or who—had run into her.

“I’m fine,” Lena replied, holding her bleeding arm. “I think the bullet just grazed me.”

“Alex!” Kara said in alarm, looking at her sister for help.

“Let’s get you both out of here,” Alex replied as she walked over to them while the other three agents began handcuffing the Cadmus members.

* * *

 

“How is she?” Kara asked.

“She’s fine,” Alex answered. “The EMT did a good job. She’ll probably have a scar, but she’ll be fine.”

Kara nodded. “I just wanted to be sure.”

“I know,” Alex replied, taking her gloves off, and tossing them before hugging her sister. “I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Satisfied that I’m not going to die?” Lena asked as Alex walked away.

Kara put her hands on her hips and began pacing in front of Lena. “Okay, I’ve managed to remain relatively calm with what happened, but I don’t think I can hold it in _any_ longer. What on Earth made you follow me? You were supposed to stay in the gymnasium where you would be safe! And then, not only did you follow me, but you jumped in front of a bullet! You could have died, Lena! Why would you do that?”

“I was worried about you,” Lena replied.

Kara scoffed. “You were worried about me? That’s all you have to say?”

“I know you’re,” Lena glanced around, “Supergirl, but that doesn’t mean you’re invincible. You could have died just as easily as me tonight, but you do it because you want to help people. I did it for the same reason. I didn’t want anything to happen to you. Especially not when my mother was going to be the cause of it. I don’t want you to be angry about it, but I don’t regret following you. We’re both alive, and that’s what matters.”

“But you got hurt,” Kara replied.

“It’ll heal,” Lena said. “I know you’re worried, but it’s all over. Maybe following you was reckless, but it all worked out in the end.”

Kara took a deep breath and released it in a loud sigh. “I just—I don’t want to ever be the reason you’re in danger. If you got hurt, _really hurt_ , I don’t know what I’d do. And if I was the reason for it—” Kara shook her head. “I care about you, Lena. The thought of something happening to you is terrifying. And seeing you bleeding was so scary.”

“How do you think I felt when my mother ordered that man to shoot you?” Lena asked.

Kara ducked her head. “How about you agree not to jump in front of any more bullets and I’ll agree not to lose my powers again?”

Lena smiled. “I think I can agree to that.”

Kara smiled back but then it slowly fell away. “About your mom—”

“I’d rather not talk about her right now if that’s okay,” Lena interrupted with a shake of her head.

Kara nodded. “Fine, I won’t talk about her. But I was just wondering if you’re okay. I know it’s hard.”

“I’m alright,” Lena answered before giving a hollow laugh. “Who knew I’d be the last Luthor standing?”

“I, um, I was talking to Alex and she told me if you don’t want to be alone tonight, you can stay with us,” Kara said before quickly adding, “On the couch, of course.” She glanced over at her sister, who was talking to Detective Sawyer. “You know, if you want to.”

“Could you fly me by the apartment to grab a change of clothes?” Lena asked.

“I think that can be arranged,” Kara answered before looking around the parking lot, which was full of cops, DEO agents, and students that had been at the dance. “Once we don’t have such a large audience.”

Lena nodded before hopping down from the back of ambulance and leaning forward, giving Kara a quick kiss. “Thank you, Kara.”

“I think I should be the one thanking you,” Kara replied. “As much as I hate you risking your life, you may have saved mine tonight.”

“Well, you saved mine first, so call us even?” Lena asked.

Kara smiled. “Deal.”


	16. A Better Place

“Why is Winn telling me to check twitter?” Kara asked with a slight frown as she looked down at her phone.

Lena glanced up at her. “Who knows? Maybe there’s been a Superman sighting.”

Kara couldn’t help smiling as she opened up Twitter and began scrolling through her feed. She’d told Lena about Winn’s obsession with her cousin. Lena had been amused, wondering why he was so excited when his best friend was Supergirl.

“I don’t see what—oh,” Kara said, pausing on a picture Winn had retweeted. “Oh no.”

“Do you need to go?” Lena asked, sitting up from where her head had been lying on Kara’s lap.

Kara shook her head. “No, I—” She shook her head again and looked at Lena with a sigh. “There’s a picture.”

Lena’s eyebrow rose and Kara offered the phone to her. Lena stared at it for a moment, the trepidation evident in her eyes. She took it after a few moments, though, looking down at the screen, her face turning unreadable.

Lena hummed. “Well, at least it’s a good picture.”

“You don’t sound very concerned that there are pictures of us kissing all over Twitter,” Kara said, furrowing her brows.

Lena shrugged. “Are you?”

“Not really,” Kara replied. “But no one knows who I am. And you can’t really see my face very well. No one is going to care who I’m kissing, but you’re—”

“One of the notorious Luthor family,” Lena said.

“Actually, I was going to say semi-famous,” Kara replied.

Lena handed her phone back and Kara looked at the picture again. It had been taken at the school while they were waiting on Alex to finish up so they could all go home. She thought they had been out of sight of the press, but that evidently hadn’t been the case. She had been the one to kiss Lena. It had been such a long, stressful day and Kara had just wanted to feel a little comfort, especially after what had happened to Lena.

“Are you mad?” Kara wondered.

“I honestly don’t care,” Lena answered. “They’ve been speculating about me for years. I never really had a reason to confirm anything, but I’m also not going to lie about who I am. The only thing I care about is if you’re okay with it.”

“No, it’s fine,” Kara replied. “It’ll make things a little easier, actually. I’m already having to live a double life. At least this way I won’t have to pretend if we’re out together. Like say on a date. Possibly on Friday?”

“Kara Danvers, are you asking me out?” Lena asked.

Kara smiled. “Yes. I just thought with everything settled, we could go out again.”

“Well, I’d love to,” Lena said, smiling back.

Kara glanced down at her phone when it buzzed again, and she typed a quick reply back to Winn. Another message came only moments later, but Kara put her phone to the side, getting comfortable once again.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” Lena asked when the phone buzzed yet again.

“I hadn’t planned to, no,” Kara answered. “It’s been a relatively quiet night and I want to be able to get through the rest of the movie before something inevitably happens and I have to fly off. I’m sure Winn can understand that.”

“Our evenings do tend to get interrupted,” Lena agreed.

“Besides, he’s just freaking out about the picture,” Kara added. “Even though I told him we’re not worried about it, so he shouldn’t be either. I think he’s freaking out that we’re not freaking out.”

Truth be told, Kara was actually kind of glad the picture was out there. It would be nice not to have to pretend for once, and she hoped maybe it would humanize Lena a little bit in the press. The press had been painting her as the cold, stoic daughter who had helped take her mother down, and she hoped the picture would show a different side to Lena. Because the Lena in the picture was the one Kara saw and didn’t understand why others didn’t. The Lena that was friendly and flirty and affectionate. Not cold and calculating _Luthor_ that so many people wanted to make her out to be.

“Can I ask you something?” Lena asked, her eyes still focused on the TV.

“Anything,” Kara replied, looking down at her.

“Are you having any second thoughts about this?” Lena asked. “Be honest. I know none of this can be easy. My mother tried to kill you, after all. And I very much doubt I will be able to get out of the public eye. I’m sure interest will die down after my mother’s trial, but it’ll never fully go away.”

“I haven’t and I’m not going to,” Kara answered. “I knew what I was getting into, and I’m not going to change my mind. Okay, maybe I didn’t think there’d be pictures of us kissing all over Twitter, but you’re worth it, Lena.”

Kara heard Lena slowly exhale.

“Did you really think I was having second thoughts?” Kara wondered as she ran her hand through Lena’s hair.

“I hoped not,” Lena replied, looking up at her.

“Haven’t you learned by now that I can handle anything?” Kara asked with a slight smile. “I am Supergirl, after all.”

Lena smiled. “Lucky me.”

* * *

 

“I’ll see you in a few weeks,” Clark said.

“That’ll be—” Kara paused, sighing as Winn waved his arms around. “My best friend says hi. Anyway, I’ll see you then!”

Clark laughed. “Take care, Kara. Good luck with everything.”

“Thanks,” Kara said, smiling.

The moment she hung up the phone, Winn was by her side. He appeared so quickly that if she didn’t know any better, she’d wonder if he was the one with super speed.

“That was Superman!” Winn said. “You were talking to Superman! Holy crap. This is so cool. And you told him I said hi! Superman knows I exist.”

“Clark has always known you existed,” Kara replied. “And you do realize your best friend is Supergirl, don’t you?”

“I know, but this is Superman,” Winn said. “He’s iconic.”

“I come bearing takeout,” Alex announced as she opened the front door.

“What did you bring?” Kara asked, perking up.

“Pizza,” Alex said before producing a bag from behind her back. “And Chinese.”

“Have I mentioned lately that you’re the best sister ever?” Kara asked.

Alex shrugged. “I think that goes without saying.” She set the food down on the island and glanced around as she pulled her jacket off. “Is it just you two here?”

“Yeah, Lena had to go to the office,” Kara replied.

“Is she really going to take over Luthor Corp?” Winn asked. “She’s kind of young to be a CEO. She’s what, eighteen?”

“She’s afraid of what will happen to it if she lets someone else take over,” Kara said. “She wants to change Luthor Corp into a force for good, and she’s convinced enough members of the Board that she’s the one to do it. Most of them knew her father, and they knew he wanted to keep the business in the Luthor family. Now that Lena is the last Luthor not in jail, they’re willing to take a chance on her to honor her father’s wishes. Even if it does mean appointing an eighteen-year-old as their CEO.”

“That’s going to be a lot of work,” Alex commented. “Luthor Corp has been doing shady things for years. And now two of their CEOs have gone to prison. It doesn’t look very good for them.”

“Which is exactly why Lena wants to do this,” Kara replied. “She wants to take back the Luthor name and prove that not all of them are bad. She wants to help people and show the world who she really is.”

“Something tells me you’re never going to see your girlfriend again,” Winn said as he snagged one of the Chinese containers.

Alex’s eyebrows rose and Kara looked away. She knew her sister was still a little wary of Lena and probably would be for a while, but Alex was definitely trying. She had even told Lena she was welcome there anytime and could stay as long as she wanted. And Lena had been. She’d spent the past five nights, only going back to her apartment to get some more clothes.

“I may not see her a lot this week, but we’re going out on Friday,” Kara said. “Speaking of which, where’s a good place to take someone on a date? I want to take her some place special, but Lena kind of has enough money to do anything or go anywhere she could possibly want, so where could I take her that’s special?”

Winn hummed. “Good question. Good luck with that.”

“I’m sure you’ll think of something,” Alex replied. “You’ve always been good at these things. I mean, you helped me plan that date with Peter.”

“That didn’t exactly work out,” Kara pointed out.

“That’s because Peter was a jerk,” Alex replied. “Otherwise, the actual date would have been perfect. Well, almost perfect.”

“Does someone keep texting you?” Kara asking, hearing Alex’s phone for the fourth time.

“Oh, that’s probably just Maggie,” Alex said, pulling her phone out of her back pocket.

“Maggie?” Kara asked. “As in Detective Sawyer?”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “She invited me to some bar tonight. I told her I may be busy, but she’s trying to talk me into going.” Alex smiled down at her phone and then shook her head. “She’s a little ridiculous. She keeps sending me pictures of herself looking sad.”

“I guess you two are getting along a little better,” Winn commented.

“She’s,” Alex shrugged, “I don’t know. She’s actually okay. Just don’t ever tell her I said that.”

Kara couldn’t help smiling to herself. “I think you should go.”

“But I promised you we’d catch up on our TV shows tonight,” Alex replied.

“I know, but it’s fine,” Kara said with a shrug. “You should go have fun. Besides, Winn is here and Lena should be back in a few hours, so I’ll be fine. We can catch up another time.”

“Are you sure?” Alex asked.

“Positive,” Kara replied. “Winn and I will be okay here. Right, Winn.”

“Umm, yeah,” Winn said, looking a little confused.

Alex nodded. “Well, then, I guess I’ll go. After I eat.”

“Perfect,” Kara said, smiling widely.

* * *

 

Kara glanced at Lena as she nervously fidgeted with her mittens. They were almost to the park and she had been second guessing everything the whole way over. It all seemed like a good idea when she was planning it, but now that they were on their way, she was beginning to rethink it all.

“Is this where we’re going?” Lena asked as they approached the front of the park.

“Yes,” Kara answered. “I mean, unless you’d like to do something else. I know this isn’t the coolest thing in the world. Actually, now that we’re here, I’m actually beginning to realize how lame you’ll probably think this is.”

“Actually, I’ve wanted to come to this for the past few years,” Lena said, smiling at her.

“Really?” Kara asked.

“Yeah, but I was a told a Luthor shouldn’t be seen attending something as frivolous as a winter carnival,” Lena replied.

Kara breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. I mean, not good that you weren’t allowed to go to one, but good that you don’t think this is completely lame. I know you could basically do anything in the world, so what do you do on a date with someone who can have anything they want? Then I remember Winn mentioning that the carnival was happening this weekend, and I remembered how much fun I had at one a few years ago.” Kara paused for a moment. “This is really okay?”

“Kara, you really don’t have to worry so much,” Lena replied. “I like spending time with you. It really doesn’t matter where we are when we’re doing it. And you definitely don’t need to try to impress me by taking me some place elaborate. I love this. This is perfect.”

“So, you don’t mind carnival food?” Kara asked with a smile.

“I wouldn’t know,” Lena replied. “I’ve never had it.”

Kara gasped. “So you’ve never had funnel cake or elephant ears? Snow cones? Cotton candy?”

Lena laughed and shook her head. “I can’t say I have. It was always fine dining for us. Since I’ve grown up, though, I’ve been able to order things for myself, but they don’t exactly deliver cotton candy to your door.”

“No, but they should,” Kara replied. “I guess we’ll just have to make sure you try everything tonight.”

“I think I might get sick if I do that,” Lena remarked. “We can’t all have your stomach of steel.”

“Okay, maybe not everything, but you definitely have to try funnel cake,” Kara replied. “And cotton candy. Cotton candy’s the best.”

Lena laughed again, lightly shaking her head. “Has anyone ever told you how cute you are?”

“I—” Kara blushed. “Not exactly.”

“Well, you are,” Lena said, smiling. “I just wish I’d been brave enough to talk to you the first time I saw you. I feel like I’ve wasted so much time that I could have spent with you.”

“Maybe there’s a reason for it,” Kara said, shrugging.

“So you could become Supergirl?” Lena asked.

“Maybe,” Kara replied.

Lena nodded and then reached out for Kara’s hand, entwining their fingers together. “Well, I’m glad fate or whatever decided not to make us wait any longer.”

Kara smiled. “That makes two of us.”

Lena looked away, nodding toward a booth near the park’s main path. “So, I think they’re selling funnel cakes over there. What do you say?”

“Sounds great,” Kara replied.

* * *

 

“You have a little—” Lena started to reach up to her own face, but stopped and reached out to Kara, running her thumb across Kara’s lip. “Powdered sugar.”

“Oh, thanks,” Kara said, trying not to blush.

Alex always teased her about how messy she could be, which she didn’t care about, but she didn’t want to look like a slob in from of Lena. And certainly not when they were on a date together. Unfortunately for her, carnival food wasn’t always the easiest to eat, especially when  
there was powdered sugar involved.

“It’s a good thing you noticed it when you did,” Kara commented a few moments later. “Those people over there are taking our picture. The last thing I want is for a picture of me with food on my face all over twitter.”

Lena hummed. “They’re not even being discreet about it, are they?”

“You know, I could melt their phone with my laser vision,” Kara joked.

Lena smiled. “Maybe we’ll save that for the paparazzi.”

Kara couldn’t help but smile when she looked at Lena. The other girl looked happier and more carefree than Kara could ever remember seeing her before, and it made Kara happy to see it. Lena had been through more in the past few months than most people dealt with in a lifetime, and if anyone deserved to be happy, it was her.

“There’s our next stop,” Kara said.

“The tent?” Lena asked. “What are we doing there?”

“Yep,” Kara answered. “But it’s a surprise, so you’re just going to have to come with me and see.”

“Alright,” Lena replied. “Lead the way.”

The two walked to the large tent, where music was playing and people were eating, dancing, and just generally having fun. It wasn’t overly crowded, but there were heaters scattered across the room, so there was a decent number of people who had come in from the cold.

“Wait right here,” Kara said. “I’ll be right back.”

Kara made her way across the tent to talk to the guy in charge of the music before hurrying back over to Lena. As soon as she reached her, the song that was playing came to an end and Kara took a deep breath, holding out her hand.

“Will you dance with me?” Kara asked.

“This is the song that was playing at the dance,” Lena commented.

“I know,” Kara replied. “And since we got interrupted, I thought we could finally have that dance. If you want to.”

Lena didn’t say anything; instead, she took Kara’s hand, allowing her to lead them toward where everyone else was dancing. When they joined the other couples, Lena wrapped her arms around the back of Kara’s neck while Kara rested her hands on Lena’s hips and they began swaying to the music.

_I’ll tell the world, I’ll sing a song_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_  
_Since you came along_  
_Your touch is sunlight through the trees_  
_Your kisses are the ocean breeze_  
_Everything’s alright when you’re with me_

“How did you get him to play this song?” Lena asked.

“I bribed him,” Kara answered.

Lena’s eyebrow rose. “Really?”

“Okay, so, I asked him nicely,” Kara replied. “But I would have bribed him if that hadn’t worked!”

_And ah ah ah ah ah, you’re my favorite thing_  
_Ah ah ah ah ah, all the love that you bring_  
_But it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again_  
_And the colors are golden and bright again_  
_There’s a song in my heart, I feel like I belong_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_

“Thank you,” Lena said.

“It was nothing. Really, I just asked and he—”

“Not for that,” Lena interrupted. “Or not just for that. Thank you for bringing me here. For letting me feel like any other teenage girl on a date for once in my life.”

“There’s no one I’d rather be here with,” Kara replied.

_I see the whole world in your eyes_  
_It’s like I’ve known you all my life_  
_We just feel so right_  
_So I pour my heart into your hands_  
_It’s like you really understand_  
_You love the way I am_

Kara pulled Lena closer and the brunette stepped forward, resting her head on Kara’s shoulder. Kara could hear Lena’s heart rate speed up a little and she couldn’t help smiling at the sound. Hers often did the same whenever Lena was around.

_And ah ah ah ah ah, you’re my favorite thing_  
_Ah ah ah ah ah, all the happiness you bring_  
_But it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again_  
_And the colors are golden and bright again_  
_And the sun paints the skies and the wind sings her song_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_

“So, how do you feel about ice skating?” Kara asked.

“That depends,” Lena replied. “Are you going to catch me before I inevitably fall?”

“I promise I will stop you before any part of your body touches the ice,” Kara said.

“Then you may be able to persuade me,” Lena replied.

_Ah ah ah ah ah_  
_Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh_  
_Ah ah ah ah ah_  
_Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh_

_Now I’m alright, now I’m alright_  
_Everything’s alright_

“Lena?” Kara asked.

“Yes?” Lena said, lifting her head from Kara’s shoulder.

“Could I also persuade you for another dance?” Kara asked with a small smile.

“I think we can arrange that,” Lena answered, smiling back.

_Cause it feels like I’ve opened my eyes again_  
_And the colors are golden and bright again_  
_There’s a song in my heart, I feel like I belong_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_  
_It’s a better place since you came along_

* * *

 

“It really is a gorgeous night,” Lena said, looking toward the sky as a light snow began to fall.

“You’re not too cold?” Kara asked.

“No,” Lena answered. “Thankfully, I have my own personal heater.”

Kara laughed as Lena tugged on her arm for emphasis. “It’s just one of many ways I try to serve the residents of National City.”

“Speaking of which, I’m surprised we made it through our date without being interrupted,” Lena commented. “Then again, it has been  
fairly quiet this week. I don’t know if that’s because my mother was behind all of the bad things happening here or if her capture was a warning to the others and they’re just taking a break.”

“I think it may be a bit of both,” Kara replied. “She may have been behind a lot of it, but I doubt she was behind everything. Regardless of the reason, though, I’m going to enjoy it. It’s nice not having to rush off every time we’re together.”

Lena smiled. “Yes, it is.”

They fell quiet as they walked hand in hand down the sidewalk, smiles on both of their faces. Kara was sad their date was coming to an end, but it was getting late and she knew Lena had a meeting in the morning. Despite the early morning, Lena didn’t seem to be in any hurry to get back. In fact, when given the choice between flying and walking, she’d chosen the latter. Kara didn’t have any complaints about it, though; she would gladly extend the time she got to spend with Lena.

“Oh, I was supposed to ask you earlier, but I forgot,” Kara said after a few minutes. “My mom called today and told us she’s coming for Christmas, and Alex was wondering if you want to join us.”

“I’d hate to intrude,” Lena said, shaking her head.

“What? No! You wouldn’t be!” Kara quickly replied. “Alex wouldn’t have asked if she didn’t want you there. And I think my mom wants to get to know you a little better now that Alex let it slip that we were going on a date tonight. Plus, Alex was talking about inviting Maggie. I guess she’s not very close with her parents. And I think she and my sister are kind of dating.”

“Maggie?” Lena asked. “That cute detective?”

Kara nodded. “Alex seems kind of smitten with her. Although, I don’t know if Alex realizes that yet or not. She can be stubborn about these things.” Kara paused for a moment. “You think Maggie’s cute?”

“I do have eyes,” Lena replied. “Are you telling me you don’t think she is?”

Kara shrugged. “I haven’t really noticed. The times I have talked to her, you’ve also been around, so I may have been distracted.”

“Good answer,” Lena replied.

Kara smiled. “It’s true.”

“Even better,” Lena replied before pausing her steps and looking up. “It looks like we’re here.”

“Yeah,” Kara said, following her gaze. “Can I walk you up?”

Lena smiled, giving Kara all the answer she needed. Lena led the way, nodding toward the doorman as they passed by, walking to the elevator, where she hit the button for the penthouse. As they rode the elevator up, Kara suddenly began to feel nervous, which—as she reminded herself—was ridiculous. It’s not like she hadn’t kissed Lena before, so she didn’t know why she was suddenly nervous this time.

“Do you think we can do this again?” Lena asked as the doors opened and they both stepped off the elevator. “Like maybe tomorrow night? One of Luthor Corp’s clients is throwing a gala and I was hoping I could persuade you to come with me. It’s going to be horribly boring, but maybe it won’t be as bad with you as my date.”

“I—yeah, sure,” Kara replied. “Of course.”

“Great,” Lena said. “Maybe I’ll even enjoy myself with you there. I’ll pick you up at seven?”

“I’ll be ready,” Kara replied, pushing her glasses up.

Kara and Lena looked at each other for a few seconds before Lena took a step forward. Just as Kara ducked her head, bringing their lips together, she heard what sounded like an explosion or something crashing just a few blocks over, and she pulled back with a groan.

“I’m really sorry about this—”

“I take it you’re needed elsewhere?” Lena said, running her thumb across Kara’s bottom lip.

“Believe me, I would much rather stay right here, but it sounds bad,” Kara replied.

“It’s fine,” Lena said as she turned and unlocked the front door. “Sometimes the city needs a hero.”

“Do you mind if I use your balcony?” Kara asked.

“Feel free,” Lena replied.

“I really am sorry,” Kara said, shedding her clothing as she walked across the apartment.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lena replied as she followed Kara toward the balcony. “Thank you for taking me out tonight. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”

“I promise I’ll make this up to you,” Kara said as she opened the balcony doors.

“I may hold you to that,” Lena replied, giving Kara a quick kiss before taking a step back. “Be safe, Supergirl.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Miss Luthor,” Kara replied with a smile before flying into the air.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used was A Better Place by Rachel Platten.
> 
> That’s it, folks. Thank you for reading and for your reviews. I had a lot of fun writing this.


End file.
